It’s amazing to me how quickly I am unstrung when my organizational skills let me down, like this morning. When I can’t put my hand on my Passwords folder. Or when I don’t remember a password I use often, like the one for this blog. All of the Zen lessons in the world don’t seem to help when someone is in the midst of chaos. And there is the problem.

It’s that chaos thing. Now, sitting here, having finally re-discovered my password, I know the first step is to just breathe. Catch my breath. Think about it. Walk around a bit. Take a shower. Breathe some more. And it comes to me, gently … at least where to look in notes, in an old folder, or any place I might have tucked the info I need.

My daughter sent me a beautiful article today, by Leo Babauta – 7 Little Things That Make Life Effortless, posted on Zen Habits 10/10/2011. And it’s about exactly this. How we crowd our lives with things that get in our way and the message that comes to me is … how we continue to struggle with these things without ever trying to change our lives to accommodate an easier lifestyle.

Earlier his summer two good friends suggested the same book to me, the same day I read about it on Cassie Steele’s web site … Time is a River by Mary Alice Monroe. When a message like this comes to me in layers ~ certainly 3 in one day ~ I act on it. Downloaded the book that instant onto my Kindle and was halfway through it when one friend’s book arrived in the mail. I sent that one home with my daughter later. The message for me in this book is to relinquish the long struggle.

Struggle. That’s the word. Let it go. For me this is key for many reasons: Job Status. Elderly Relatives. Keeping up the good fight. It isn’t giving up because you can’t keep up, it’s giving up to simplify, to make every single day easier, better, effortless. Who wouldn’t welcome this?

I like effortless. It’s my new mantra. And as quickly as I realize this for myself, I realize ~ after far too long a struggle ~ that I’ve found the key for my character, Addy, in my Will-She-Ever-Finish-The-Book Benson’s Cove. The answer is yes. I’ll finish it for myself, if nothing else. And having Addy recognize the struggle she needs to give up sets this plot back on track.

I like effortless. Want it in my life. That says it all.