So the other day, I’m havin’ my weekly get together with my sister, Irene, and I swear, we’re not five minutes into it when she looks at me and goes, “Ida, what’s up?” I can always count on my sister to cut to the chase.
“Oh, Reney,” I says, “I’m not gonna lie to ya. I’m feeling so overwhelmed. It’s all good stuff, but even good stuff can be overwhelming if it’s comin’ at you all at once. And then there’s the feeling guilty ‘cause I’m so lucky, really. How dare I feel overwhelmed when my life is just so darned good? And I confess, I’ve been talkin’ to myself lately.”
“What else is new?”
“Yeah, but more than usual. All of a sudden, I find myself saying, ‘It’s alright, Ida. Everything’s OK. It’s all good.’ Or I’ll be in the shower, and realize I’ve been standing there, staring into space for I don’t know how long. ‘Keep moving,’ I’ll say to myself. ‘Just keep moving.’ Or I have so many things that I want to get done, I get paralyzed and have to cheer myself on. ‘Just tackle the next thing on your list, Ida. You can do it!’ Of course sometimes it’s my list itself that’s overwhelming. I’ve started playing this little game with myself. I have a master list, and then I make a smaller list of things I’m gonna do that day, or this morning, or for the next hour. Then, I hide the master list in a drawer until the next day when I make my new small list.”
“Have you tried breaking the tasks down into more manageable chunks?” Irene asks.
“Yup, but sometimes even that doesn’t help. When all else fails, I go walk the dog. That usually clears my head.”
“That Scamp is a miracle worker!”
“That he is! ‘Course, when I’m feeling like the house starts lookin’ dirty, even when it’s not. Because I’m feeling outta control, the house looks outta control. Three piece of junk mail on the counter can send me into a tizzy. The baseboards, the vegetable bin, the grout. So much cleaning, so little time!”
“Are we not French?” she says, shakin’ her head.
“And I gotta tell you, cookin’ and meal plannin’, things I usually enjoy, have stopped being fun. It seems like I’m always dealing with food, buyin’ it, cookin’ it, puttin’ it away, getting’ it out again. What with all the barbeques, potlucks, family reunions and what not, I hate to say this, but I’m always a little relieved when Labor Day rolls around.”
“I hear you.”
“I keep saying to myself, ‘Don’t panic.’”
“That,” Irene says, “is the Number Two rule of life.”
“What’s the Number One rule?”
“Always look good!”
Well, that put a smile on my face. She’s right, of course. I may not know as much as Oprah, but one thing I do know for sure is that putting on some lipstick always makes me feel better. Or getting my hair done down to Hair Affair. Or wearin’ a new outfit. Or heck, just hangin’ out with my friends, spending time with my sister, havin’ a date night with Charlie. ‘Cause when I’m feeling overwhelmed with too much stuff to do, sometimes the best thing to do is to take a break.
“Do you remember Mrs. LaFleur?” Irene asks.
“How could I forget. Home Ec teacher, junior high.”
“She had that gray hair that kind of look purple under the fluorescent lights.”
“Yes! Always dressed to the nines, perfect makeup, matching shoes and purse,” I add. “Wore Youth Dew perfume. You could smell her coming from a mile away.”
“And what was it Mrs. LaFleur used to say?”
And together Irene and me go, “Look good, smell good, feel good.”
Truer words were never spoken.
That’s it for now. Catch you on the flip side!
IDA’S PODCAST: The Number One Rule of Life