Doing the Next Right Thing

Whew! It's been a busy week for us. Our niece, The Princess,  is BACK (YAY!!) and moved in last Friday and The Husband had ALL his teeth removed on Monday. I've been helping her get settled and into school, while running hot and cold pads back and forth to him. All this in addition to marketing my novel, writing my blog (doing it right now......helllloooooo), laundry, cooking, and all the other things I do each week. 

In order to make room for TP (Sweet Boy and his dog are back with us for a few months as well), we needed to do some fairly massive rearranging in the house (furniture, stuff in the closets, etc). Sometimes when there's so much going on around me, I can get a little overwhelmed. When I'm in overwhelm mode, I get stuck. It's like there's sooooo much to do that I can't make a decision about what to do, so I look for the next right thing. If I wish I had allowed more time, I'm focused on the past. If I worry about the things I have left to do, I'm focusing on the future. My best bet is to stay in TODAY.

Sometimes the "next right thing" is staring me in the face -- like the clothes that need folding. Sometimes it's remembering to eat. Sometimes I need to take a walk, read or get some quiet time. I can get so wound up about what needs to happen tomorrow or next week, I forget about the things that are in front of me to do TODAY. 

My time in "overwhelm mode" doesn't last very long and is always much shorter when I remember to do the next right thing, whether it's self-care, prayer and meditation or using the tools of the program. 

What's your "next right thing"? What do you do to stay grounded and focused? 

Have you been there?