First World Problems

My month of service is going pretty well.

I'm trying to stave out laziness and replace it with joy. 

It's hard to serve others. Especially when the last eight years of my life were focused solely on me. 

My homework

My tests

My workload

My room. 

But being part of a family means more responsibilities. 

And responsibilities I often don't feel like. 

Sometimes I used to beg my mom to let me trade chores with my brother. "I hate vacuuming, and he doesn't mind, and I like dusting. I don't want to vacuum. Can't I dust?" 

My mom, in her wisdom, would say "Tough. There's things I don't want to do all the time that I have to do, and I don't get a choice."

If I were just trying to minimize laziness, I could do chores begrudgingly. Bitterly. But you know what? That doesn't lead to a very happy life. 

When I consider all the gifts that I've been given

A family that lets me stay at home while I get my feet on the ground

Food

Shelter

Dishes

Doing a bit of work doesn't seem so bad. 

Taking the burden off my mom? That seems kinda fun. 

Because once you have joy, you want to share it. 

I've realized that if I tap into my heart to serve, not my mind (which doesn't usually "feel like it"), I can get more accomplished. Heart can beat mind, every time. Not that I'm there yet, but I know I'm getting closer to it. 

The older I get, the more scary all the responsibilities become.
You know, I think that my generation is the messiest generation there is. And we own more stuff than any generation before us. Some of us don't even know another way but messy. It's sad, because how neat you keep your house as an adult becomes an extension of how neat you kept your room as a kid. I was a neat-freak through about age 10, then I got into the Clothes Pile phase. In school I was always too busy, but what's my excuse now? I don't feel like it?

So anyhow, I decided it was time to start feeling like it in my heart. I have victories and failures, but at least I'm making some progress.