We have all heard the saying that when the student is ready, the teacher will come.

You were ready and willing to change. No one else could do this but you. It had to come from your heart of willingness to make simple behavior changes along with attitude adjustments to see the peace begin within you!

Like any seed that is planted, it needs the warmth of sunlight and water to help it grow.

All I do is plant the seed and you do the rest; you have to be willing to accept the seed into fertile soil and be ready to cultivate.

You have been searching for many years for the seed.

You have purchased every self-help book looking for the magic solution to get rid of the CHAOS.

You even thought that you were the only one that lived this way. Then all of a sudden you find out there are other people that have the same problem; you were not alone. This makes all the difference in the world because you no longer have to suffer alone because someone else knows what you have been through.

We have been scolded for years, "Why can't you just clean up around here?" We could get the house clean, but it would not stay that way for long.

There was some secret that other people knew that we had not been told. We have been searching for that elusive key most of our lives.

We would spend days getting ready for company and then the house would fall apart before our very eyes — even when there is only one person living in the house.

So what is that elusive key? I have told you that if I can teach you to take care of yourself then your home will come together.

When you find FlyLady your first assignment is to shine your sink, then it is to get dressed to shoes and fix your hair and face. Both of these assignments help you to take care of yourself. I can hear you now. How does shining my sink help me to take care of myself?

Well, it is all about letting go of your perfectionism by being nice to you for the first time in your life.

Shining your sink helps to give you hope. By keeping the sink shiny you cultivate that hope into peace.

Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy. We say ugly things to ourselves.

When we have hope; we let go of those negative thoughts and replace them with positive attitudes. Along with those positive attitudes we add simple routines to help us continue to cultivate that seed of hope.

With fun tools we get rid of our clutter and dust away the years of procrastination. Then before we know it; that little seed of hope has grown into the peace that nurtures us.

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For more help getting rid of your CHAOS, check out: www.flylady.net. Also see Cilley's book, "Sink Reflections," and her new book, "Body Clutter." Copyright 2006 Marla Cilley Used by permission in this publication.