Could you move in a day?



Saturdays can be a day of relaxation, but they can also be a day full of recreational activities or major projects that didn't fit in during the weekdays.  Lucky for me, today was a day of relaxation.  I had been craving a day like this for the last month, and I was thrilled to finally have it!  I still woke up fairly early, but I very slowly and casually made my way through my morning routine.

After a nice, cold bucket shower, I finally wandered into the kitchen to make some breakfast.  As I prepared the food (potato, tomato and egg cooked together), I noticed that Miss Annie (the mother of Joylin and baby Jessica) was moving everything out of their room of the elephant house.  Curious about this unfamiliar sight, I asked Miss Annie what she was doing.

"We are moving to one of the hostels!"  she replied.  (And to clarify-- we call the dorms where the children live "hostels", and there are rooms there for the house mothers and others to live in.  They are on campus as well.)

I was shocked by this news!  My mind raced as I tried to imagine what this must be like for her family to up and move so suddenly, but also as I tried to imagine what it would be like to live in the elephant house without her darling family there anymore!  As I processed this, I observed how much they had moved out of their room.  It became clear to me that they would easily move everything today-- in one day.

Could you do it?  Could you move everything in one day?

Being in India has caused me to think about all of the things I have back home that I really don't need.  Things that are a distraction.  Things that have turned into clutter.  Things that I claim to be sentimental, but that I might not notice are gone if they suddenly went missing.  Before coming here, I had to move everything from my condo to my parents home, and I definitely couldn't do it in one day.  With the help of my best friend, I managed to do it in several small (and large) increments spread out over the course of a month.  That is insanely different from what I witnessed today!  Here I sit, and it's evening, and the family is gone-- completely moved out and moved into their new room in the hostel.  Sure, they'll need time to really get settled, but they did it.  They did the move in one day.

It may be a silly goal, but I hope to simplify my life enough back home so that if I had to move in one day, I could do it!  I think I will find that I have so many things that I really don't need, and I hope to find that I am less stressed without them!  We shall see though! :)



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