Guest post by Lindsey Hale, author of the recently-released book, Lifted: How to Ditch the Fear, Obligation and Guilt and Live Your Best Life, available now!

The World’s “Okayest Life” is not okay.

How on earth does she get everything done? Is it really possible to have a healthy body, marriage and family, organized home, and run a little side hustle without cloning yourself? Maybe you are like the old me who thought that “successful women” who “had it all” must be super heroes or at very least born lucky.  I would start towards a goal, like getting debt free, I’d do all the research, get the budget all set up, and then I would hit a major bump in the road and that was it! I quit! These kind of goals aren’t for people like me! Guess I’ll just keep on getting by and living the world’s “okayest” life. 

Before we get started, let’s be clear…this isn’t a passive-aggressive rant on someone who has been mean to me, or some judgmental sermon about a company, cause, or political organization. Instead, this is a common-sense guide to dealing with negativity in your life, whether it is online or face-to-face. For some reason, a lot of our society has forgotten its politeness, and often, when someone disagrees with something you say or do, they immediately get ugly. Let’s talk about how to deal with all of that, shall we?

We’re getting ready to chat again about Ditch and switch. This time, we are headed into the kitchen! Since I know some of y’all might be wondering, what exactly does ditch and switch mean? This is all about deciding to ditch a nasty, harmful toxic product and switch it out with something better and healthier. You don’t need to go out and buy a whole new closet full of cleaning supplies all at one time and break your budget! Instead, we slowly ditch and switch one or two products at a time.

When something runs out; replace it with something better.

This is the first post in a three post series all about what I’m calling “Ditch and Switch”. What exactly IS ditch and switch? Several years ago, my family and I became very aware of the harmful and toxic chemicals in so many of the products we were buying in the store. We learned about this firsthand because of the struggle we faced with my son, Eli, and his very sensitive skin. Very slowly, over the last few years, we have begun to gradually replace the toxic products in our home with cleaner, healthier options. And just so this whole idea of “Ditch and Switch” is not too overwhelming, I’m breaking it up into three parts: Bathroom, Laundry, and Kitchen.

And today, we’re headed into the Bathroom!

Slowly in our home, we have replaced things that are harmful or contain harmful or toxic chemicals. Over time, we’ve been able to do better! We don’t believe it has to be all or nothing. We believe gradual change is the kind that sticks! When you jump in and try to do something 100% whole hog – it’s too much!

Today, I want to focus on ditching and switching in the laundry room and cleaning closet.