New Week's Resolutions - all gone to pot

Up to last week I was doing pretty well on most resolutions. I was getting up early (between 7 and 7.15), eating lots of fresh fruit, spending 10 minutes on my knees in prayer, going for walks, putting off trivial pursuits until a certain amount of proper work was accomplished. I even managed for a few days to ensure that tomorrow's activities were fully prepared today.

Now it's all gone horribly wrong. Why? Three reasons come to mind. 1) Busy-ness. I have had so much to do that I've had to get on and do it without the luxury of pacing myself nicely or fitting in the daily 'resolutions', important though they are. 2) My mother's 80th birthday. This is actually today, but we spent last weekend in Sheffield - a rare treat for me, wife, 3 children, sister, mother and assorted uncles and aunts all to be together at the same time in the same place. 3) Re-wiring of house. Day by day this is becoming more disruptive. We have to pack up our clutter and move our furniture so that carpets can be rolled up, floorboards lifted, joists drilled through and wires made to sprout out of all manner of nooks and crannies. The workmen start at 8.00 before I've really got my mind around the day. They spend the day dispensing a kind of controlled chaos. Then I spend the evening trying to restore a measure of order and soothe the stressed members of the family. Not conducive to ministerial efficiency.

My conclusion is to abandon normality for a few weeks. If I can manage to do all the essentials and to engender a reasonably calm domestic atmosphere I will be content. Greater ambitions will have to wait until normal life is resumed.