For as long as I can remember, I’ve always felt a sense…a need…a compulsion to progress.
In all things. I find it hard a lot of times to just sit still. There is this overriding feeling within me that kind of wells up inside me to accomplish something.
To get moving…to do more.
And it’s not limited to any one area of my life either. I always seem to feel this need to get something done.
At home it could be the dishes, washing clothes, working in the yard, home repairs, etc.
Physically, I feel the driving need to exercise at least three times a week, most weeks. And when the time comes where I can not exercise for various reasons, it bothers me to the point that when I am able to exercise again, I will. Even if it means working around, or through, an injury if I can do so at all.
I don’t know if it’s because I am a man. Or if it’s just me that feels this way. Maybe it’s my upbringing…or the unconscious thought that life is short and even if one lives to be 100, there always seems to be more to do than there is time to do it.
In the past I even focused on certain words that exemplify this feeling. Words like “accelerate,” “drive,” and others.
My big observation from this, one that is becoming more apparent and clear as I age, is that sometimes I just need to sit still.
Lately this has been in the mornings when I don’t exercise. I’ll sit out on the front porch before it gets hot outside. I might think, listen to the birds, watch the chickens in the yard, the people walking on the street out front of the house, I may write in a notebook, or plan out things I’d like to do, need to do, or want to do.
Some mornings, like this morning, it starts to rain. Even though I have plans for the day and things on the list to get done, I watch the rain fall. This morning it helped that along with the rain was thunder in the distance that seemed to be getting closer as it rained harder and harder. And since it was thundering, I turned off the computer so as to prevent a possible brown out that has fried our computers in the past.
It gave me an added excuse to just sit a bit longer. And breathe…and think…and relax.
I think too many people hurry through life striving to get more and more done. Only to end their life not having lived the life they wanted. They get into this habit of always trying to do more, be more, accomplish more. It becomes a habit and then defines them to the point that when they are not “doing” they feel a bit of shame or regret or remorse or even get depressed.
To a degree, if you look at this from the outside it’s easy to say “what’s the point of going through life like that…”
But from the inside, it’s hard to take a step back and actually “see” that this is how you are living your life.
So the big observation is one that is often told, said, and heard. But not often actually listened to and adhered to…
Take the time to “stop and smell the roses.”
Said another way, take time once a day or a few times each week to reflect on what you do have, what you have accomplished, to enjoy just breathing and living and being alive.
Take time in the morning to stop, be still, relax, even think a bit without any expectation…before the day sets in and you’re once again too busy to take a break until nightfall before bed…having gotten everything done that you can just in time to go to bed.
My next big observation is one that comes from this kind of thinking time.
Often I’ll plan out my day. The things that I need to get done on the professional side of life.
I’ll list out several things that can help me progress towards my goals.
Then, taking a quick second at the end of the workday, I’ll feel a bit of tension or stress upon realizing that I didn’t get nearly as much done as was on the list.
It could be because something popped up that needed my immediate attention and time.
It could be that one or two of the tasks took a lot longer than I thought it would have.
But largely, the cause of this – and my big observation – is…
Most of the time the items on my to-do list are not tasks that can be accomplished in a fraction of a day, or even a full day.
Some of the items on my to-do list are more like full projects that may require a week or more of focused effort for them to be done satisfactorily.
My realization of this has certainly put things into perspective. And also lowered the “stress” I feel for not having gotten everything on the list done that day.
This comes down to planning – or rather, more effective planning. But knowing this is what happens a lot of the time is the first step towards actually getting more done with less stress.
Hope this helps – I know it did me.
Live all the time you live!