Maybe You Should Consider Becoming a Control Freak

To them I respond, “PHOOEY!” Being organized is often (definitely in my case) a personality trait. Organizing items and events can be learned in some ways, but a person cannot suddenly become obsessively tidy. Baby, I was born this way!  

Being organized is helpful in some situations, true. But there are real benefits to being more laid back and being able to see the big picture, which I usually cannot see because I’m too busy trying to organize (control) the details.

Just because the grass seems greener on the other side, doesn’t mean you even need any grass on your side. Maybe you have a crazy wild jumble of wild flowers! How great is that?!

You know what I mean? If you have teenagers who don’t make any sense, go make some sense out of your pantry. Organize the crap out of that pantry! Don’t do it because it will stay that way or because anyone else will even care. Do it because getting that space in order is something little ol’ mortal you can actually control. 

My friend, Gia Blount (who is a genius child development consultant and will help you understand your children who don’t make sense,) practices this technique with her refrigerator. She told me during an especially stressful time (I think it was COVID?) that when her house was a mess, she coped with that out of control feeling by compulsively (and often) tidying her fridge. This thirty minute chore gave her a sense of calm and a little glimpse of the feeling that everything will be alright.