Genuine question and I’d love to hear the experiences of others in the comments.
I consider a normal week to be one that unfolds mostly the way you expect it to when you go to bed on Sunday night. You know what’s on the calendar, you’ve planned for your responsibilities, and each day basically unfolds that way. There are no significant disruptions whether it is illness, an emergency, new appointments, etc.
How often do you have a week like that? Most weeks? Half of the time? Once in a blue moon?
Over the weekend my face started swelling up next to the right side of my nose and I didn’t feel well. Sunday it was definitely worse. (Because these things ALWAYS happen on the weekend, don’t they?) By Monday the right side of my face was sufficiently swollen that I contacted the doctor’s office and requested an in person visit that day.
Diagnosis? Sinus infection. A bad one. But only in one sinus. And I haven’t been sick (that I’m aware of). So I’m now on antibiotics.
So that messed up Monday homeschooling because I was unwell and had to go to the doctor in the afternoon. It also spilled over into Tuesday. We completed some of our studies, but my stamina is low enough that I didn’t push myself to do all the things.
If I had to make a guess, I would guess only 5-10% of our weeks are normal.
Is that the case for you? Is this what everyone experiences most weeks? Or are we an outlier? Is it normal for most weeks to never go the way you plan?
We purposefully live a life with margin, but it seems like it is never enough lately.
What is your experience?
Removing the Distracting Possibilities Around Me
Oh no! I hope you are on the mend. I didn’t know that “normal” weeks existed! 😉 I don’t think I usually even get through a “normal” day without something going differently than I expected.
I feel like when E was small, it was more likely that things (schedule-wise) went according to plan, but now that we are all getting older, (and I am caring full time for an aging parent in my home) I have to be prepared to go with the flow!
I think the saying I have heard is “Normal is just a setting on the washing machine.” 😆
Looking at the calendar, I’ve had two or three “normal” weeks so far this year, and I already know that I will not have another one until summer at the soonest. That’s about 10%.
I am so sorry about. your sinus infection. Hopefully you’ve turned the corner and are on the mend now! I cannot remember the last “normal” week I’ve had. You are not alone!
Your question took a lot of thought. My weeks are normal because I have a few things that are must do activities but the rest of the day is just “fly by the seat of my pants.” I can tell you that I am busier than ever before and that is frustrating and tiring. Any illness in the household “gums up the monkey wrench” and causes major disturbances in the work flow. I think that might be what you were speaking about. I just try to roll with it.
I trust you will be feeling better and back on your track soon.
As if to prove the point, we made another (unscheduled) trip to the doctor yesterday. (This time for Caroline.) This also necessitated another trip to Meijer.
It’s Friday and I have no idea where the week went.
This is what I’m talking about. It’s the constant and almost relentless unexpected of life right now. If the two visits to the doctor had been scheduled for this week, that’s a normal week. I would have known and already planned for those events because they were on the calendar.
I didn’t even mention the unexpected emotional drains so many are experiencing due to death and illness of loved ones, family, friends, coworkers, church members, neighbors, etc.
All this has got me thinking about the necessity of adding additional margin to life during the tumultuous peak of the Fourth Turning (which we are in). This goes for time, emotional, physical, financial, etc. All of it. That would be another post.
Sallie
I absolutely love Amanda’s quip that normal is just a setting on the washing machine! As a matter of fact, I’m going to write it on the daily page of my planner so I don’t forget it.
I have been in a season where I’ve struggled with writing or planning anything. I’ve realized that it’s a vital part of life for me. It brings some peace and order in this tumultuous fourth turning that we’re in. I really appreciate all of your material on that subject too, Sallie.
We just got back from Florida. We traveled down there for a baby shower for our niece. It was a welcome interruption of the normal grind.
Going forward, I’m praying for grace and patience, and humor to get me through. I’ll set the machine on “normal”, and pray for the best. ☺️
I want to write here for my own record that the week after I posted this was yet another not normal week.
We had some shopping to do that had been put off for a couple of weeks so we went on Monday. On Tuesday Caroline woke up with a bad cold and she was pretty much down until Saturday. By the weekend, David and I had it. I also had an unexpected church meeting pop up for Tuesday morning that I had to lead.
At this point, it was almost comical to me. Clearly the Lord must be trying to teach me something because it was simply getting ridiculous.