Logan enjoyed his birthday yesterday. He had his archery lesson, visited both sets of grandparents, got some nice presents and had KFC for tea as a treat. That's enough to make an 11 year old happy but I felt drained by the end because this flu-thing is hanging on.

As I lay resting in bed today I realised that not only my body but my mind feels tired because of something that tends to creep up on me that I call the "next thing" syndrome. Some days, when I'm in the middle of something, my mind races ahead to think about the next thing I've planned to do. While I'm cleaning the kitchen bench I might think, "Next I'll get Blake in the bath to wash the jam out of his hair." While Blake is having his bath, I'll think, "Next I'll fold up the clothes on Emma's bedroom floor." While I'm folding Emma's clothes I'll be thinking, "Next I'll pay those bills." You get the picture. This is the sort of thinking that creates the feeling that I'm on a treadmill because I never give myself a break to stop and catch my breath. As I roll into bed at night, I might be thinking, "First thing tomorrow I'll mop the bathroom floor." Then the whole thing starts all over again.

Although this "next thing" mentality creeps up on me, I really want to watch it because I'm certain God doesn't approve of this way of thinking simply because it's projecting my thoughts into the future and His name for Himself is I AM. Even though the thoughts are merely ten or twenty minutes into the future at times, it's still not good because I don't enjoy the present moment while I'm doing it. Watching Blake have his bath and listening to his little giggles might be fun if I wasn't thinking about cleaning Emma's bedroom floor and getting tense over it. The "next thing" syndrome really does rob my present joy. So I'm giving it up again. And next time this mode of thinking creeps up on me again, I'll renounce it again. Now that I'm a wake-up to it, I'm hoping that one day my mind will get the message and I'll be completely free of it.

Perhaps living in the present moment may be a key secret to enjoying a simple life. This was reinforced to me while I was watching an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond, of all things. The Barone family were in Italy and as they prepared to fly home again, Ray commented to Debra that he'd prefer to stay longer because he was warming up to the quiet village lifestyle. "It's all so simple here, like a different world." The people in the village were munching pizzas, strolling through the piazzas and by the water front and having their siestas, in other words, putting their hearts into the moment. I thought, "There's no reason why we can't enjoy the same sort of outlook home in Australia or America", but I think that weeding the "next thing" syndrome out of our thinking must be the first big step.

So here I am typing my blog while Blakey babbles a picture book to himself and pretends to be reading. Andrew and Logan are playing one of Logan's birthday games while Emma fuzz-buzzes about doing whatever she's doing right now. The fan blows a cool breeze on me and the sun is getting that late-afternoon look about it. It's a good life.