Two ways to do laundry

With seven children, you can imagine the amount of laundry I have done in my life.  It's one of those chores that is never really done, no matter how much time I spend on it.  And while it's not the chore that I hate the most, it does feel like laundry is always hanging over my head, so to speak.

Sometimes when I'm folding laundry, I give my brain something to keep it busy, like listening to a book or podcast.  But when I don't... my brain has a default script that it likes to replay.  I think thoughts like, "Why do they always leave their socks in a ball when they take them off? Gross! Now they're still crusty when I open them up!" Or "This shirt is still folded!!!  He just threw it back in the laundry so he wouldn't have to put it in his drawer!"  Or "How in the world do I have this many towels to fold??  I know there were not this many showers taken this week!"  I spend my laundry time thinking about how annoying it is that my children don't behave like responsible adults.

One day, following a prompting I received during my morning prayers, I decided that I would dedicate everything I did that day to the Lord.  I kept my usual to do list, but I decided to make each item on that list a consecrated act of service.

That morning as I folded the laundry, I chose to do it as an offering to the people I love.  When I picked up the little pants with holes in the knees, I thought of how much I loved that my little boy plays so hard that he wears holes in his pants.  As I folded my husband's clothes, I thought about how grateful I am that he goes to work every day.  Washing his clothes is something I love to do to make his life a little easier.  I was able to just laugh at the crusty socks that still spilled out dirt when I opened them up.  How does that not bother them??

I found myself blinking back tears of love and gratitude that morning. Because of the thoughts I had chosen, folding laundry had become a holy time for me.  An hour that drew my heart closer to the people that I love.

It's interesting to me that we can do the very same action, but depending on the intention behind it, we can create dramatically different results!  It felt so much better to think loving thoughts than to think thoughts that created irritation.  Why don't I do that all the time??

The answer is that our brain has default settings.  We seem to be pre-wired to look for things that are wrong.  The "natural man" in us is pre-wired for negativity.  Unless we make a conscious effort to choose something different, our brains will keep doing what comes easiest to them.

The great news is that we can choose to change our default settings.  That is exactly why we came to earth- to learn how to choose!  Not only do we get to choose our actions, but we can learn to choose our thoughts and feelings as well. 

Default settings do not have to dictate our life experience.  Learning to choose our own thoughts and feelings creates a whole new world of possibilities!  What will you choose to create?

Christi