beds ~

Ok…Simplicity will not come without a little sacrifice…many people think that to simplify one’s life it means skipping some daily “chores” in order to spend time doing other “duties.” WRONG – Actually just the opposite happens…

Years ago I never was one to make my bed...in fact I only really made our bed when we were having company. If someone spontaneously came over, I often ran back to the bedroom and whipped the comforter up and threw on the pillows at lightning speed…then we put our house on the market, and I had to make the bed every day in case of a “showing”…it was then that I realized the benefit to this little chore.

When you skip basic things like making the beds and clearing your bathroom counter tops, you are actually adding stress to your daily life…you see… when you notice the open toothpaste and blush and lipsticks covering the bathroom counter top, it registers in your mind as “clutter,” adding to your stress, and you see the “un-made” bed as a “mess” or “still to do” or even worse "should have done," also adding stress to you mindset. If you spend the extra 3 – 5 minutes putting your make up away, the top on the toothpaste, and making the beds in the house you will be amazed at how much calm and simplicity it will bring to your daily stress level…just knowing that all the beds are made upstairs will calm your attitude downstairs…seriously…try it and you will see…And somewhere someone came up with the statistic that your room looks about 70% cleaner with a made bed. (Oh…and if you don’t make your bed because it has 18+ pillows that all go in a certain order, then I would suggest you put most of the pillows away and just leave one or two out to make the bed…then when company comes or you throw a party you can pull out the remaining 15 pillows.)

Try to make your bed EVERY morning and clear your bathroom counter tops. It will only take a few minutes each morning, but it will give you hours of mental calm throughout your day, and you will be amazed at how good it feels to retreat to a beautiful, restful bedroom at the end of the day.