I live with a bunch of slobs. I live a constant battle of picking up random shoes, clothes, dirty dishes, ballcaps, loose change, water bottles, towels, and other random … uh, stuff. Unfortunately, my kids take after my husband in this regard.
Andrew and I started dating in law school and his cleanliness habits have not improved over the last quarter century. After dating several months I decided I would no longer clean up his apartment when I visited. Not that he ever asked me to nor expected it. It was just habit for me. My experiment included letting his dirty dishes pile up in the sink (alas, no dishwasher).
Those dishes sat there for over two weeks until one day, miraculously, the sink was empty. I looked in the cabinets. No dishes. I finally asked Andrew what happened to them. He explained that the dishes had become so disgustingly gross that he could not clean them so he just threw them out. [They were plastic and this was before recycling became popular.] EEUW!
To clarify, my husband has great PERSONAL hygiene. He can just tolerate a LOT of clutter and messiness around him, unlike myself.
I am a self-exploration junkie. I love learning about myself and others by taking those personality tests. Recently, I took an amazing Values Quiz the purpose of which is that when you discover the most important values in your life, then you can align how you spend your time and other resources with those values and live a happier, more fulfilled life.
Not surprisingly, one of my core values is Order (along with Empowerment, Challenge, Freedom and Serenity in case you were wondering).
My teenage daughter took the quiz too and none of her values included Order or any other value even remotely close. I had an epiphany when I read the results of her quiz.
I realized that maybe my family doesn’t leave their sh*# all over the house just to piss me off. Nor are they a bunch of Neanderthals (though I still sometimes wonder).
Rather, organization and order is just not a priority for my family. They are all highly productive, intelligent and functioning human beings. They just happen to be able to function normally with a lot of mess around them.
Even if my family does not appreciate my cores values, at least I know those values serve me well with my clients. After all, clients come to me to help them get their own…uh, ‘stuff’ together in their lives to secure their family’s future.
Remember, estate planning is not just for the rich or the old. Effective estate planning is for everyone.
Simply put, estate planning is an organization of your assets and affairs to ensure that your loved ones are secure and protected when you are no longer around.
Leaving behind a well-organized, thoughtful and effective Estate Plan is the most amazing legacy and inheritance you can ever leave your loved ones. [If you have ever experienced the aftermath from the death of a loved one, then you probably know what I am talking about.]
I have given up the battle in my home of trying to make everyone conform to my organizational rules. Since apparently I am the only one that clutter bothers, I just make it a part of my daily routine to pick up the house because it makes me a happier person (and certainly more fun to be around).
This is how my husband loads the dishwasher.
My husband's toothpaste tube is on the left, mine is on the right.
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