Life never really quite works out the way we plan, does it? I have noticed that every time my to-do list gets ambitious, I end up humbled. The beginning of 2014 has been no exception.

The holidays have wound down, and the past couple weeks were what should have been the return to regularly scheduled life. Well, regularly scheduled life, with backlog. You know how it goes. Some things get neglected due to holiday plans, and there’s catching up to be done. Oh, and then throw in all of those New Year goals in addition to the things you normally do in a week, and… the to-do list fills up!

I had plans to hit the ground running the Monday after the holidays were over, but God had other plans for us.

My daughter got sick, and we had to take a break for a few days. Just as my daughter started feeling better, my son got sick, and we had to take a break again.

Though I had so many good intentions of doing more and doing better, I had to stop, look at what was before me, and surrender to it. That happens all the time, doesn’t it? We get carried away making plans, and roadblocks get thrown in our way.

In hindsight, I had a case of do-too-much-itis, and these roadblocks made me reevaluate my priorities.

My family’s illnesses made it impossible to accomplish all that I wanted to get done. I had to narrow my focus and just do what was absolutely necessary. Even then, I still could not get everything done myself and had to ask for help. (Confession time: It really went more like — got in over my head, panicked, and then asked for help at the last minute. I definitely need to do better at recognizing when I am going to need help.)

So 2014 has not started out as planned. I tried to reflect and pray and learn some lessons. Overall, it was not a big deal that we were slowed down for a couple weeks, and we are lucky that these roadblocks were just temporary. Now we are back to regularly scheduled life and can plug away at the backlog. (Knock on wood.) I am sure I will have more cases of do-too-much-itis in the future.. that’s one lesson I will probably never learn.

Do you ever suffer from do-too-much-itis? How do you handle it when roadblocks get put in your way and you can’t get everything done?

—

The above explains why I haven’t been writing much. It was nothing earth-shattering; just life getting in the way.

I just wanted to thank everyone who has been so positive and encouraging since I have started writing here. I have even had a few people request that I write about certain topics. I am working on them!