The Massage

Our house always gets unbelievably uncontrollable clutter-wise after the holidays. Between two kid birthdays AND Christmas.....yikes. I had zero time to deal with it before my school term started, which meant everything piled up. Literally. I just could not deal. I was getting frustrated with everything, I wasn't sleeping well, and my asthma and migraines increased from the stress. At Christmas, I pulled a muscle in my neck and shoulder that did not heal, which meant I was in horrible pain every day. Something had to happen.

So I got a massage. I know, weird thing to decide to do when everything is overwhelming. A massage isn't going to do my homework or clean my house. But that's what I did. I got a deep tissue massage to work the pulled muscle out of my neck and shoulder. One hour later and the pain I'd dealt with for almost two months was gone. And then the motivation hit me.

I cleaned out my closet and filled a bag with things to donate. I cleaned out my oldest son's room and filled another bag with things to donate. I gave the kid clothes that were too small to friends with younger kids. I gave the baby swing to a friend who'd just had twins. I called a junk removal service and had them remove the old nasty couch and ALL of the recycling that had piled up from Christmas and birthdays from our garage. I dusted my bedroom. I bought an air purifier to ease my asthma symptoms at night. I stopped stressing out about my homework and I created a schedule. And - here's the awesome thing - I've started exercising again.

This all stemmed from one deep tissue massage. So what's my message here? I'm not saying getting a massage is going to solve all of your problems. What I am saying is that when you reach the point where you just absolutely cannot take it anymore (the "it would be easier to burn the house down and start all over" feeling), take a step back. A huge step. Disconnect. Find a release. Do something that can fully clear your mind for an hour or so. Then you can approach everything with a refreshed outlook. And if shelling out the cash for a one hour deep tissue massage is how it can happen, then so be it.