Are You Stuck?

Life Throws Us Curveballs

And curveballs can make us feel stuck.

While January of 2018 started with frozen pipes. In January of this year,  we lost $1,000 in income each month.  We knew that it was coming.  We understood the reasons behind it.  While we weren’t thrilled, we were okay with it.  That one thing launched us into a lot of late night discussions about our financial situation.

We cut a couple of things out, but really it was pretty much business as usual.  We’re still making our bills and have extra for eating out, gifts, and celebrations.  It’s not like we’re tight financially, but there’s a chance that our income could go lower still, so my husband and I considered proactive options and put our house (that we just bought last year) on the market.

In the three weeks it has been on the market, we’ve had a good number of showings and several people at least somewhat interested.  We’ve looked at countless houses, put offers in on two, and ended up getting exactly zero accepted offers.  But even before we officially decided to put our house on the market, I felt stuck.  I wasn’t sure I was going to be here, so why should I start a garden?  My life was about to go into upheaval, so I couldn’t start pouring more time into my business.  I have too much going on to spend time really feeling comfortable with my pressure canner!  I’m STUCK!

Have you ever felt this way? 

• “This baby is on the way so I can’t start “XYZ project.”
• “My husband’s job is on the line (boy, can I understand that one), I can’t take any extra time to get that side hustle going.”
• “My kids are working so hard at their school and it’s taking so much time, so I can’t volunteer at that food bank.”
• “I NEED extra time to relax, so I don’t want to work on that preparedness project.”

Stop Making Excuses

Oh, we all do it.  I’m right there with you.  I’m too busy to hop on the treadmill consistently!  I’m not, but sometimes, I just don’t want to make time to exercise.  I don’t have the ability to work through that really long class.  Sure I do.  I just need to stop watching so much Netflix.  So when I say stop making excuses, I’m also talking to myself and I mean that in the most loving way that I can!

So what can we do? 

1.)  What needs to be done?

Grab a piece of paper and make a list of things that need to get done.  My husband hasn’t installed a door hardening kit that we got over two months ago because we were going to move, but we made a commitment to put it in, so we need to get it done.  We found out that we had a water leak, and we FINALLY were able to find it.  It’s all fixed, and our bathroom floor is repaired, but we still have a little portion of our basement ceiling that needs to be repaired.  We need to find screens for our screen doors so that we can get the air flowing through the house during this beautiful spring.

2.) What do you WANT to get done?

I’ve been wanting to plant more berry bushes and plant more trees, but we were going to move.  A garden was high on my priority list, but we were going to move, so I didn’t get going on one.  We (okay, my oldest son who doesn’t react to it) was going to cut down the poison ivy in the back yard, but I didn’t ask him to because why should I do it for the next person?  (Yea, pitiful attitude, I know.)  We didn’t fix our clothesline because………say it with me……yep, we were going to move.

3.)  What would you LOVE to get done?

Oh, ladies, we ALL have hopes and dreams!  What are yours?  What do you yearn to accomplish?  Do you want to write a book?  You can SO do it!  I’ll be your biggest cheerleader!  Do you want to grow 1/4, 1/3, or even 1/2 of the fruits and veggies that your family eats?  High Five!  You’ve got this!  Do you want to start your own business? I would HIGHLY encourage you to get that side hustle going!  Let me know what it is because I would LOVE to support you in it!

4.)  Find an easy preparedness project

Are you struggling to move forward with your preparedness efforts?  There’s just SOOO much to do and it all seems like it will take FOR-EVER!  I made up a list of 100 possible projects that you can accomplish in five minutes or less.    You’ll be able to find it in the Printable Library (once you’ve signed up for my newsletter either below or at the right) Pick one and get going on it!  Don’t make excuses.  You can do ONE small thing to move forward in your preparedness efforts.

What About You?

Do you feel stuck?  If you do, how do you feel stuck?  What is the first project that you want to tackle?  Share your experiences with us below in the comments so that we can all be better prepared.