Life will be good when...

I often get this idea in my head that goes something like this:

"Life will be good after (fill in date)" 

Most recently, my idea was "life will be good after Spring Break". 

To me, 'life will be good' means several things: 

• I'll be organized
• All my laundry will be done, dishes put away, floors vacuumed, everything will have a spot, and no floating papers (schoolwork, mail)
• I'll eat healthy
• Dinner will be cooked at home, veggies and fruits are in the fridge - ready to be eaten as snacks, and bagged lunch will be made the night before for school the next day
• I'll exercise
• Work out at least 3 times a week
• I'll have "me" time
• Time to read, time to blog, time to sit and stare at leaves on a tree
• I'll have time for friends
• I'll see at least 2 friends a week
• I'll do all my school work early
• Study ahead of time, write papers early

I'm serious. I have all these ideas in my head and I always seem to fall into a trap of "life will be good after..." ... THEN,  life will be good. Ahh, yes - I can't wait.

But then. Ka Plunk! It doesn't happen. This past experience was the most eye-opening of them all. I was just waiting for Spring Break to come so I could re-vamp my life. I was going to go through all my clothes and closets and cupboards and re-organize everything! I was going to call all my old friends and re-kindle friendships. I was going to sit outside and read The Hunger Games. 

Guess what I did when I had time to do those things over Spring Break?

I watched Gilmore Girls and took naps. I slept in until 11 and didn't do much at all. I was lazy. I was really lazy. 

And then it hit me. Ka Plunk! My excuse for not doing any of those things above was "I'll do them after..." I was PROCRASTINATING. So, one day I just started doing those things. It wasn't easy and it still isn't. 

For example: I wasn't doing my laundry because my thought was "I'll do laundry after Spring Break". But then it kept pilling up. And then I didn't do any laundry over Spring Break. And then I didn't have any clean underwear. And then I realized - it's okay to do one load of laundry if that's all the time you have. 

I kept waiting for a whole day to do my laundry (and everything else). I thought Spring Break would've be enough time - it was a whole week. But after working, going to Troy, and being lazy - my time was out. It was Sunday night and I hadn't done anything. My life was never going to be good. 

So back to my rude awaking... (you can probably tell where this is going) I realized life can be good right now. So what if everything isn't organized? That doesn't mean I have to leave all my crap out just because my closet isn't organized. 

So, I'm putting my life back together. I'm living again. It feels good to not be overwhelmed by a growing a list of things to do. Now, my list of things to-do isn't growing - it's just sitting there - waiting for a spare hour or two so something can be check off. I don't need a whole day/week to get my life back in order. I just needed a new mindset. 

Now to switch gears (only a little bit). Part me living again means I'm eating healthy again. YAY! Only about 10 days ago, my diet consisted of gummy worms, BBQ Kettle-cooked chips, and Little Caesar's Pizza. I am not kidding, that is what I ate one day (no more, no less). I was feeling GROSS. So, I changed that. I went to the store at 8 am (that is the only time that works for me - soo early) and bought a lot of healthy things. Like SALAD. 

LOOK! 

I just ate that about 2 hours ago. It's "Spring Mix" lettuce, with feta, red onion and kalamata olives. Sure, I put on dressing that 100 calories a tablespoon. But ya know what? I probably wouldn't eat all those dark leafy cancer killing greens if I couldn't put a good dressing on it. 

And then for dessert? Chocolate milk! I know, chocolate milk isn't healthy. But it's better then a tub of ice cream. Look, it's 200 calories a cup (I buy the good stuff):

So I'm not a healthy perfect eater. But that's okay. Because when I strive for perfection, I end up procrastinating and never doing anything that I truly want. 

I'm making my little baby steps towards my "life is good" list. And ya know what?

Life is good.