Fly-baby Deborah's Journey Out of CHAOS

Hello again!  If you read my last post and clicked on the word, CHAOS, you should have discovered FlyLady, Marla Cilley's website.  I discovered FlyLady.net about 6 years ago, and I thought I would be a genuine reformed fly-baby long before now, but I am not.

I suppose the general consensus is that a person was a slob before having found FlyLady, but that is not necessarily true.  Most of us manage to have a reasonably clean house, until something happens that turns things upside down.  For me, it was chronic illness, which gradually grew worse.  The depression that came with the illness did not help.  I had no motivation, and I had no energy.  That was not a good equation for keeping one’s house clean and uncluttered. 

First of all, for the uninitiated, CHAOS is an acronym for can’t have anyone over syndrome.   That absolutely says it all.  I would have felt like I was going to die a thousand deaths over the embarrassment of having someone walk in my house after I got sick.  And on my good days, I managed to make myself feel more ill by doing a marathon cleaning job.  At the time, I didn’t think Depression or Fibromyalgia should keep me from getting my housework done.   I couldn’t figure out why I had long periods afterwards, that I couldn’t do anything.  I also found out I have a liver disease called NASH.   Furthermore, I found out I have Hypothyroidism and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome;  so, I got in this cycle of letting the clutter pile and waiting to feel good enough to do something about it.  Obviously, I needed to find a better way.  My self-esteem was going down the drain quickly!

So what happened after I found FlyLady?  Did I go through her thirty-one day plan and become renewed and revamped?  I wish I could say I did, but it wasn't quite that easy for me.  It was kind of like yo-yo dieting.  I didn't have the energy to stick to the plan every day.  Some days I didn't feel like taking a shower, much less getting out of my pajamas.  I had to find a way I could do this at my own speed.  That is what I am going to share with you.  You are going to read how I adapted FlyLady’s excellent plan to my own life.  Moreover, I am still working on it.  Let’s see if we can share the things that are helping us manage our lives better – our lives as they are now.