Losing My Grip

I'm not a huge fan of high places.  I can handle heights to a point...okay, to a very low point.  I hate it when I'm watching a movie or TV show and a main character ends up clinging desperately to a ledge by their fingertips, about to plummet to their death.  (Like Beckett hanging on for dear life in the season finale of Castle...anyone else LOVE that show?)  I guess it's a Hollywood rule that their grip has to slip and make things more dramatic, but it makes me squirm every time!

I can identify with the feeling of losing my grip, though.  How many times do I feel like I'm losing my grip on everything going on in my life?  The laundry mountain has started to resemble Mt. Everest, I'm behind on my Bible study, my college assignments are due, and my blog is covered in cobwebs.  I feel like I'm drowning, slipping further and further below the surface, not sure if I can ever reach the top again.

Sometimes God has to whisper my name...okay, so He may have to yell a little...and tell me, "Amanda, just breathe."  As my microbiology teacher used to tell our class before a test, "Breathe - its not overrated."  I need the reminder.  Breathe.  Focus.  Take one thing at a time.  Finish one job before starting another.  Take small steps.  Just get started. 

Ann Voskamp wrote a great post a few days ago about creating habits.  This week, I plan to use my day planner (a.k.a. "my brain" becasue I rely on it so much), the daily planner printable from A Holy Experience, a weekly homemaking schedule I typed up several months ago, and the Pomodoro technique to get things done at home and get my family on a routine.  Simple planning, and simple follow through, should help me get things into better balance and give me a better grip on things.