saving the world on a friday afternoon

It's that time of year when I'm hit with the bug to clean out, simplify, take a trip, make adjustments to our routine, and all-in-all turn myself into

once and for all. I'm pretty sure the bug came early this year because of the weird 50-degree weather we've been having off and on for weeks that's giving me MAJOR spring fever. AND, with all that's been going on in our lives that feels somewhat outside of our control, the itch to control what I can control just gets itchier. I feel like I'm in a constant learning curve of choosing what parts of life to be more easy-breezy about and what I've let get altogether windy that I need to reign back in...

So it was perfect timing last Saturday morning, when I went with two of my amazing YW presidency friends to an enrichment in one of their wards featuring a professional organizer. I didn't really need to go since my pantry is simply a variation of these

I ONLY buy items in a pale monochromatic scheme

I NEVER stock up in numbers higher than two's or three's

and I wouldn't THINK of using pantry doors

...but I went anyway because I'm an organizer at heart, forever seeking the holy grail of ultimate organization. I was excited to hear what she had to say (while secretly wondering if I'd make the shocking discovery that I'm MUCH worse off than I realize) and was happy to leave feeling (a) reasonably organized and (b) excited about ideas to tackle those tornado areas I never quite get a grip on.

One comment the speaker made, that doesn't really have anything to do with organizing your home, but everything to do with organizing your life, has been coming back to me all week. She said as a child-rearing mom she was constantly trying to juggle being a mom with "saving the world." Now, in an empty house and 40 years of life ahead of her, she realizes she has all the time in the world to save the world. Her advice to us was that no matter what we pursue as wives & mothers, that we don't let any pursuit in any realm result in neglecting the core of our lives.

I love this sentiment because I am always seeing creative, amazing things people are doing to 'save the world' and I think to myself in a longing way, I could totally do that, or I would really LOVE to do that...or wow, that would be really fulfilling/noble/worthwhile/fun/(insert adjective here). It's that feeling of wondering if I'm living up to my potential when I choose NOT to explore different things that would bring me satisfaction. Yet, even as I ask myself the question, I know MY answer is that I couldn't do it at this phase, at least not in the way I'd want to, without neglecting the core of my life. So even though I know amazing women who are somehow doing amazing things and saving the world and making me jealous, I am thankful to feel satisfied trying to save the little world here under my own roof. How great that I even find it fulfilling/noble/worthwhile/fun/(insert adjective here) and that there's still plenty of time for the other stuff...after I've done everything I can do to avoid raising