10 - Today Is The Day!

Aug 3

There is something I have been wanting to learn how to do for a long time. But it seemed hard, and I “never had enough time.” So I would just quietly bemoan my inability to do this skill every time I thought about it. Until one day I decided I would just do it.

“Today is the day,” I thought as I pulled up a YouTube video. I took a deep breath and steeled myself for the inevitable difficulty that was to come. About 30 seconds into the video I was flabbergasted. This is it? This isn’t hard at all! Why had I waited SO LONG to do something that was so easy?

The short answer is that I thought it would be hard. I thought it would take a long time to learn. But honestly, I had wasted time by not even trying. How many hours had I lost (not all at once, but throughout my life) wondering about how to do it, or wondering what it would be like if I could do it, or wondering how beautiful things would be if I could do it, or wondering how awesome other people were because they could do it?

Now honestly, not everything I want to do is going to be easy. And also, not everything I want to do is possible. But how embarrassing is it that I have wasted time, time that I will NEVER GET BACK, wishing to do something? When I could have been DOING IT!

I think the motivating factor for me, to look up the YouTube tutorial, was a conversation I had with my son. We were talking about something that he wanted to do, but he hadn’t sat down to do it. It wasn’t a chore. It wasn’t something I had asked him to do. It was something he wanted to do. But he didn’t feel like he had time. I laughed because it’s summer break and he doesn’t have a job. It’s summer! If he doesn’t have time now, when will he ever have time?

It was funny until I realized I do the same thing. Not so funny anymore.

I have Great Courses classes I have bought to watch for personal growth and learning. I haven’t finished them.

I have an idea for putting curtains in my dining room area that is weirdly shaped. What if it turns out stupid?

I have ideas for painting crafts that I want to do but I’ll have to make a mess on the table. I will have to drag out the supplies, then I will have to put them all back.

I want to sand wood because it’s so therapeutic for me, but then I’ll get wood shavings in my hair. Plus, I’ll have to move the bikes to get to the work table. And it’s hot. And someone moved my sander. And now we’re out of sandpaper.

It’s been a little while since I started this website, so I think it’s ok to ask. How are you doing?

Have you read my second post? The one about making a list of all of your amazing qualities? (2 - Who Are You?) Did you start that list? Have you continued? Do you know where it is?

Was your intention to take a walk every morning and let your mind wander to a happy place? But then the weather got hot, or you went on vacation, or got absorbed by something else?

Did your purpose not come to you immediately (or within a week, or a month), so you got discouraged?

Deep down, do you know what your next step is, but you're afraid? Or tired? Or not 100% positive that is FOR SURE the ABSOLUTE next step you should take?

I want you to take a moment and imagine your future self. Who is that person? What does that person look like? I don’t mean physically, I mean emotionally and spiritually. Is that person fulfilled? Is that person content?

What are you going to do to get to that healthy place? What needs to change RIGHT NOW so you are advancing to a life of purpose?

Our lives are filled with so much to do, so many things to be done. And we have so much information at our fingertips that it can be overwhelming. So we just stop.

In order to counteract the chaos, we find ways to distract ourselves from our life. We binge watch another Netflix show. Or we flip through Facebook for hours. Or we spin through Reddit comments, or twitter feeds, or tumblr.

It’s funny that the solution for world burnout is to go out into the world. Sit on your porch and listen to your neighborhood. The cars, the trees, the children, the wildlife. Go for a walk and feel the sidewalk, gravel or dirt under your shoes as you take each step. Touch the bark of a tree as you walk by. Pick a wildflower and study its beauty. Sit in a chair or lay on the ground as you watch the sky. Are the clouds moving? Is there a line from a plane? Are birds gliding, looking for a meal?

Now that you are in a place of calm, what is your head telling you to do?

Do you need to stop worrying about it and just sign up for those classes you’ve been wanting to take? Do you need to stop caring about what everyone will think, and just bow out of that extra thing you’ve been doing that is driving you crazy? Do you need to ask for help and stop trying to do everything on your own?

Do you need to stop listening to the gossip and start listening to your heart? Do you need to pour into yourself a little, and stop getting the leftovers?

What has that little voice in your head been trying to tell you to do?

Your life can not be prancing from one amazing high to the next. It can’t be all rainbows and butterflies. It can’t always be easy. But there needs to be something joyful, something to look forward to, every single day.

What is something that you have been putting off doing? Something that will make you smile? Go do it. No matter how big or how small, you need to get started.

You need to live your life, and find joy in your life. And that starts today. Right now.

Are you curious about my “thing?” That I wanted to learn, but wasted time being sad that I couldn’t do it? When I could have just learned how to do it?

Ready?

It’s life altering! So make sure you are sitting down!

It was learning how to do a herringbone braid.

I’m not kidding.

Obviously, it’s not life altering. Or maybe it is. Maybe I’ll bond with someone over my ability to do a herringbone braid! Most likely not, though.

On the other hand, maybe learning this one little thing will give me the confidence I need to do something a little bit bigger, or harder. Maybe this one little thing will be the catalyst that projects me to a better version of me.

The point is I have pulled myself out of the rut of “I’ll do that later, or someday.” I did it. And I’m going to do more!

It’s your turn.