Chaos is My Middle Name

In a couple of days the chaos will break lose. I call it summer.

Life can get so busy at times, and just when you think it can’t get any busier … along comes summer.

You hear people talk about the “winter blues” and bad times of year when they are reminded of the sadder things in life. Personal things. Devastating things. Things that are all a part of life. And yet, we dwell on them.

I am as big of an offender of this as any of us.

Summer is that time of year that brings forth those longings and saddens that many associate with their “winter blues.” I often wonder if that is why this season becomes the most chaotic of times for us.

Oh sure, we have all normal daily busy scheduling issues like everyone else. You know, the swim lessons, scouting meetings, family camping, and work schedules that come along with balancing having the kids home for the summer.

Life gets trickery when you’re split between where you want to be and where you are. Life has a way of throwing unexpected turns of events in our lives.

God knows.

Trust me He knows!

There are days when I look at my calendar for the upcoming weeks and think I can’t possibly squeeze another thing in there. But I do. We all do. Especially when those things are family.

I have a pile of craft and sewing projects by my sewing machine. I have friends requesting my assistance. I love it when they want to share ideas and we brain storm, but I often regret the lack of time or hurried feeling I get trying to push the things I love most into time slots as if life where that black and white all of a sudden.

Life isn’t clean lines and perfect timing.

Life is messy and unpredictable.

And if you can’t toss away that calendar of scheduled events, then you have to leave gaps for filling in later.

photo credit: Flicker CC via Justin See

It’s hard to resist the urge to fill in those gaps right away. You look at them as “free time.” Yet, they are not like playing monopoly and landing on a FREE SPACE. However, there is usually always a card that comes with them telling you to go back three spaces, pay someone, or take yourself halfway around the board again.

Chaos erupts when we try to fill in all the free spaces. If you’re like me, and you can’t leave them blank until you need them, then simply write inside them TBA (To Be Announced) because sometimes in the chaotic times of our lives we just need to find time to breathe.

So if your middle name is chaos this summer, too, take refuge in the free spaces of your schedule and resist the urge to fill in all the time gaps today