One of my assignments for myself the past few years (yes, sometimes I am a slow learner) has been to sort out what do I really want to be doing, both “in general” as well as at an given time. It’s not that easy for a person like me, who is easily entertained and who can sink her teeth into just about anything and find some pleasure in it.
It appears the universe is trying to help me out in this task. It keeps piling more and more work and fun on my plate. I consider myself now to be in a state of near overload. I was thinking (not uncommonly) that this is problem to be fixed.
Instead, I have started thinking of it as a gift to be opened.
This is to paraphrase friend and author “Wayne Muller”:http://barefeetshop.com/book-1000-0671797840-Legacy_of_the_Heart_The_Spiritual_Advantage_of_a_Painful_Childhood.html.
But that’s just a nicey nice thought really, without the real “aha.” And that is this. Being really busy can be much akin to having cancer. Things take on a new level of importance. Small details fall off my radar. I am free to only focus on what must be done right now or what I want to do right now, and with a little luck those might even be the same thing! All other tasks and all other moments can suddenly wait their turn. I can choose who or what gets my attention and how.
I have found this quite freeing, and in experiencing that freedom, I am enjoying my things to get done as well as my personal pleasures far more.
I tripped across a graduation address given by Steve Jobs for “Stanford”:http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/grad-061505.html last June. Here is a quote:
bq. “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life,” Jobs said. “Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.”
We hear and talk about this concept a lot. People who have faced death seem to have a better handle on it. I’d like to skip the cancer part and go straight to putting this knowledge into action in my life.
