Often we hurry through our days. Monday begins while readily Thursday appears. Seemingly one week into our New Year’s resolutions and we are already celebrating our Labor Day holiday.
Missed meals, sleepless nights, endless deadlines, and life’s worries all contribute to the speed of our lives. There is never time to rest because we have thoughtlessly already committed to do something more.
When young, this all seems normal. Armed with the energy of youth, we plow through our piles of to dos, activities, commitments, and demands. When older, we find that we don’t have quite as much energy, stamina or will to push through our large basket of things to get done.
What I have found helpful is to practice “gathering myself” when feeling a bit overwhelmed. Things like clean my desk off or start a new list of all the recent things I need to get done. Go through my emails to see what I have missed. Emtpy a book shelf and throw things out that have been there for years providing me no further value. Go through my briefcase to see what I continue to mindlessly carry with me.
The more common things suggested include: sleep more, make time for working out, and sometimes just plain doing nothing for a night is all that is needed to make the next morning filled with the hope and promise of the new day.
You see recalibrating our lives is more necessary than we understand. It’s value is derived from creating a feeling of control that we get when stopping our life’s treadmill to see both where we have been as well as where we have landed.
That is why I believe that getting your hands around your everyday “stuff” and organizing/throwing out/capturing requests is where recalibration can be most helpful. It’s differerent than simply getting away. You are taking control of what is around you. Giving us the space and time to regroup (with intention) before we begin our life’s journey once again the next morning.