Are you ready? Ready to start your day? Ready to start your week? Ready for what's next in your life?

Most of us think we are, but when an opportunity presents itself, we slam the door in its face. All because we are not ready! We are not dressed, our houses are in a mess and we don't have time right now!

Our mothers used to yell at us to get ready! Our sweet darlings do this today and we silently ignore those words because we are in rebellion. Why are we rebelling against the one thing that is going to help us take the next step to finding out who we are and what we want to do with our lives?

I have been thinking about the term "ready room." I looked it up in the dictionary, and it says it is a room where pilots are briefed and await orders. Before they enter this room they are dressed and prepared to go!

Every day is a new day filled with exciting opportunities. If we neglect ourselves along with our routines, we will not be ready to jump in and enjoy a chance at having fun. Not being ready keeps us grounded, and not in a good way! When we ignore the basics, we will not be ready to be spontaneous.

Isn't this all that any of us want to do — be carefree and spontaneous? Haven't we been accused of this our whole lives? Deep down inside we knew that it was just fine to have fun, but we have never been told or we never listened to those who said, "Get Ready" first! We thought they were just boring! The truth is that they know something that we did not want to recognize. When you get your homework done, you can go out and play!

Our routines are not straitjackets, they are the framework that frees us to have fun and play! They are also the foundation to helping us be creative without the guilt that has stifled our creativity all these years. When we stifle our creativity, we kill part of our souls.

Guilt has a way of beating us down and keeping us from accomplishing our dreams. Releasing this guilt by getting ready for your day is a first step to the rest of your life and finding yourself. The guilt has kept you locked away.

The guilt has also been instrumental in your daily abuse of your body and mind. We all know our drugs of choice. When our creativity is bottled up inside, we feel bad, and this is when we turn to that form of self-medication to protect ourselves from the feelings of guilt and worthlessness. This can be anything from food to alcohol or even computers and books. We can lose ourselves any number of ways.

We are worthy of love, creativity and being ourselves. We just don't know where to start to get ready! It is not that hard to put one foot in front of the other and take baby steps. After all, what you have been doing has not been effective in harnessing your creativity for good in the world. You have shut it down because of those voices in your head telling you to do something. Quiet those voices by following a little different path: Get up and get ready for your day! Take baby steps to find your voice by doing simple three-step routines in the morning and in the evening. These routines will be your ready room to what is next in your life!

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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.