Equate

Equate,

     To make equal or level
     To reduce the apparent time or motion of the sun to equable, mean proportion
          (mean = of little value OR in the middle)


Okay, I looked at this and one word went through my mind.  "Huh?"  I had to look up 3 words just to understand this definition.  Even then, I still didn't completely get it.  I still don't know if I got even now.  However, it manifested in some interesting ways, nonetheless, that I believe would fit loosely into those parameters.

The "of little value Or in the middle" part was what got me.  And the "reduce time" one, too.  It all came down to one thing for me........Simplify.  At first I thought "to make equal or level" meant that everything needs to be "fair".  These definition were really starting to mess with my head and I had to make sense of them so I could manifest it during the day.

So, last night I meditated and visualized and prayed and all those wonderful things and really pondered on this word and its various definitions.  It was so uniquely interesting, really, in that before I even fell asleep for the night, the word was already taking shape in my mind how it would show up the next day.  And it did almost exactly as I thought it would.  Isn't that interesting?  I think that's interesting.

Again, it came down to "simplify".  Break things down during the day, relax, plod along, but take the complication out of everything and just "do".  I got a lot of things done today that I wasn't looking forward to, that have always been a headache to deal with in the past, but today I simply relaxed, saw things for what they were, took the drama and complication out and just did it.  I thought it would take all day to get these things done, but in actually was done with hours and hours to spare.  As a result, I got to spend a lot more time with my children having a laid-back good time instead of always telling them what to do.

For example:  The piano needed cleaning off.  We are a very musical family and have multiple piano players in the household, so the music pieces and books pile up very high on the piano.  No one ever puts them away properly, so they just stack and stack and stack.  Well, today I decided to simplify.  It started with gratitude. I thanked the Lord for the abundance of music we have in our lives and for our talents on the piano that allowed expression of those talents.  I don't know exactly what that did, but it definitely did something.  The feeling in the whole household changed literally in an instant.  I don't know how to explain it, but suddenly everyone was cooperative.  It was done in a matter of 10 minutes and done well.  No complaining.  Not even a little.  The one I assigned to take care of it simply got up and did it.  Simply.  No fuss. No muss.  Now, because of focusing on this word like I have today, I now know that such cooperation from the kids is possible.  Seriously, this is liberating.

Another one was the laundry room.  It was a serious pile of mess.  Again, I did the gratitude thing, thanking the Lord for having such a wonderful room to clean and for the abundance of clothing that filled it.  And again, something happened.  I asked that it get done, and it was done.  Again, no complaining.  No "aw, Mom!", nothing of the sort.  And again, it just seemed to come together in a matter of minutes, and it was done well.  Several times this happened today with a myriad of different scenarios and circumstances.  All was done simply, efficiently, and happily.  Hmmmmm....a pattern started to emerge; a formula; an equation.

Unpleasant chore + gratitude - unpleasant attitude = happy, pleasant balance in the home.

I didn't have to get mad or anything!  I expended the most minimum amount of energy motivating the day as I ever have, like, ever!  Somehow, the big drama we usually have was minimized, made into something of little or no value.  Hah!  And, by so doing, reduced the time it normally took to do it.  Double Hah!  This is FANTASTIC!  (and I got to get down on the floor and play a stupid card game with my kids and it was a blast.  I seldom have time to do that, and usually even have the desire to do that even less.)  I had time to spare and a good attitude to match.  Equal.

I know I've said it before, when I announced that I thought the e-words were hard, but I am thinking I'll soon be rescinding that statement.  These words are getting easier and easier to act upon.  I don't know how this is coming about, but it actually is.

It's a marvel.