Yesterday, when Chel shared “whatever it is you want to be doing more of, do more of it.” my entire heart did flip flops. That really is the heart of the whole matter isn’t it!?
People who live lives they love are spending time doing the things they love. If I were to map out what my ideal life would look like (something I haven’t done in years and realize as am writing, it is something I need to do again) I would do a lot of the things I already do. Spend time with my family, gather with my friends, write for my blog(s). But there are all whole hosts of things, like make a massive difference for people, donate huge sums to charity, traveling more, sending my Sweetie to culinary school (his dream) that just aren’t available to me RIGHT NOW.
A problem arises when one applies the “do more of what you want” philosophy in the short term. I want to do more gardening and playing with my daughter then dishes and laundry but if I stick with what I “want” there won’t be a clean plate to eat off and we’ll all be wearing dirty clothes. If I want to have sexy fit arms (I live in mortal fear of becoming an old lady with that flap of skin that waves hello when I raise my arm) I have to give up surfing for one more cool blog post and actually pick up something heavier then a wine glass. If I want that beautiful closet I told you about on Monday, I have to take the time away from my little short term wants, like going to the park with my daughter or figuring out how Google+ works, and actually put in the time it takes to sort through all my clothes.
Getting to a place where our days can be spent entirely doing the things that our souls call for takes time and long term planning. Five push ups on one day is not going to give me the level of fitness I truly want. Shoving my clothes back into the drawers after I find something passable to wear is not going to give me the minimalist wardrobe I crave. The things we really want require us giving up some short term wants for the sake of the bigger picture.
My life is comfortable. I have the luxury of being able to do many of the things I want however every time I let my whims and immediate fancy dictate my actions there is a place in my soul that cries for being neglected. You see, I don’t want (there is that word again) to squander this one wild and wonderful life and my soul knows that every time I put off doing the things that will pave my way to the bigger picture I have misused some of my precious time.
Yes it is important to smell the flowers along the way and to enjoy the journey but it is also important not to lose sight of where you want to go.
Today, for me, this means I will be attending to that closet. (You can follow my progress on Twitter #WardrobePurge)
What does it mean for you?
It’s funny- for the last few weeks I have been desperate to sit in my studio and CATCH UP. I feel a great and compelling urge to be creative and spend a lot of time writing and creating and communicating. I feel so behind! But life kept bringing me back outside for one reason or another these past two weeks- things that needed to be done around the yard, gardening stuff, Gracie wanting to swim, errands that needed to be completed RIGHT AWAYetc. I finally just gave into it and I’m sort of glad I did because it feels very good to sit here on a Friday evening and know the weekend stretches in front of us with a lot of the busy work done.
I’m starting to realize that “living the path” is sort of going with the flow, too. It’s not always passion and sparkles- sometimes it’s just the peace and calm that comes after a job well done. I always feel a lot better when I take care of the small things around the house that I don’t necessarily enjoy, but ultimately contribute to our well being as a family.
I just have to remind myself not to put those small tasks ahead of EVERYTHING, all the time. There’s room in the flow of life for both the necessary and the fun… I’m just trying to figure out how to balance it all!