In the past, I tended to get in a groove and just flowed from one activity to the next. I would go to work and stress out about it. I would grab a beer with friends and complain about it. But I wouldn’t spend much time thinking about what I wanted or how I could make life better. There is something to be said for being in the groove but it can lead to complacency.
Even now, I get comfortable working a few shifts, doing my yard work on the side, cooking awesome meals for my honey, helping Child #1 and her honey with some small projects and writing my blog posts. I like my life and tend to get comfortable sitting on my couch. But as we know, life doesn’t get better while simply sitting on the couch.
To keep from getting too comfy on the couch, I have been spending some time thinking lately. Can you smell the smoke? See the flames? Hear the crackling?
I have been working quite a bit at the Nursing Homes covering for people who take time off for the holidays, but now, things are beginning to slow down. During Thanksgiving week, my yard work came to a screeching halt with a snow storm that left 12 inches of the white stuff covering the ground. Child #1 and her honey are traveling so except for taking care of the cats, things are slow there too. I have been taking advantage of these slow downs by hitting the library, planning our next vacation, and spending time with my honey. I am also beginning to think about my goals for 2019 which is just around the corner.
One of my goals, that I know I will meet is to take an extended amount of time off this winter to spend traveling to Florida to spend time with Mother Fran. We will be gone for an entire month!!!! The trip is planned, the employers notified and Mother Fran has the dates on her calendar. During the trip, we will hopefully see Child #3, Child #5, Child #7 and some of the children of #2, 3, 4. We will also spend time with friends of my honey’s in North Carolina so she can play some tennis and another friend in FL so she can golf.
A few years ago, I never would have dreamed that I could take an entire month off from work. I would not have thought it would be possible from my employers perspective much less from my own financial perspective. Now, I tend to think a lot about what I want, what I need and what would bring happiness for me and my honey. I have learned that simply thinking about life, tends to help me generate ideas and ideas help me see possibilities for a better way.
“Creative thinking inspires ideas. Ideas inspire change.”
Barbara Januszkiewicz
I feel like in my 20’s, 30’s and early 40’s, I simply let life happen. I missed out on opportunities because I didn’t even try to figure out a way to make them happen. I had a chance to move with one of my best friends to Seattle but I had recently taken a promotion at my job and thought I shouldn’t leave. If I had bothered to give it 5 minutes of thought, I would have realized that I could find a similar job on the West Coast, somewhere I truly wanted to experience.
For a different job, I missed out on an opportunity to go to the Grand Canyon with my sisters. I was the one who talked everyone into the trip as we were already going to be in Phoenix for a wedding. But I had just started a new job and didn’t have the time to take off from work. I never even mentioned it to my boss or asked to take time without pay. Fifteen years later, this trip is still on my bucket list.
These days, I try hard not to let life simply happen to me. This is a passive approach and does not lead to desirable outcomes. This evolution came about by thinking. Thinking of a better life, a better way, a better strategy.
I believe we all need to learn to listen not only to our head but to our gut when planning, strategizing and making decisions. In order to do this, we need to flip the switch in our brains to the on position. For me, this means taking my quiet time every single day to shut off the background noise of life, work, and all of the associated stressors. Quiet time allows my mind to become calm so I can get a better sense of what I want, feel and need. Flipping the switch to ON, allows us to keep our head up and our minds open. In this position, we can pay better attention to our true needs and desires.
If you are passively allowing your life to slip on by without questioning what your truly want and need; get off the couch! Take quiet time daily so you can flip the switch and start paying better attention. You only live once, make it count!
Lake Girl