I did it again. I came up with an idea, launched into it, then began to feel what the long-term requirements actually entailed. When I started this 365 days of thanks, it was a way to copy other "a year of" style blogs, and a way, I hoped, to generate more blog "followers." Sounds so business oriented, doesn't it? Is that a good reason for doing a thankfulness journal?
I came up with 31 particular things to be thankful for throughout January. Focus on gratefulness is a good thing, and a project like this can help one focus on a particular goal or mindset. But the danger in it is that it can become a task--another thing on the to-do list rather than an expression of feeling from a grateful heart.
In recent days I've been realizing the need to further prune my life and task list. I am involved in several circles of influence and can get pulled in too many different directions if I'm not careful. I'm the type of person that needs variety and activity, and does better if just a little bit under pressure, so it's easy for me to jump into new things. But when I start hearing myself say more often, "I can't do this anymore," in regard to the "pinball" back-and-forth mental juggling that scattered involvement often entails, and I'm getting angrier and more and more frustrated, then some pruning is in order. Here are at least three things I chopped or weeded in my garden of responsibility:
1) I stepped down from being the secretary/communicator for our community group. A relatively small responsibility, it was still a regular task and yet another role in life. Thankfully, one of the members was ready to step in to take it over!
2) I simplified the approach to communication for another group I'm part of. My role entails a committment to the end of 2010, but I was able to streamline the tasks in a way that will keep it quite simple.
3) I suspended a particular service my website was offering. After discussing it through email with the small group of women involved, nearly all seemed to welcome the idea of a sabbatical. Guess I'm not the only one feeling pulled in all sorts of directions.
Today, I am pruning the recurring task of "365 days of thanks." Yes, I'm giving it up after only 31 days of posts on the topic. I don't want it to be a daily "have to" nor feel like if I miss some days I have to write 2-3 posts to "catch up." Does this mean I'll quit being thankful? No. It just means that while the experiment was good, and short term challenges can get us thinking in the right direction, it's okay to step down from things after a season if you realize that they are not going to contribute positively to your spiritual, phsyical or emotional health long term.
I'm not advocating being a thoughtless quitter (starting one thing then backing down shortly thereafter, or worse yet, quitting right at a critical time; making a committment to others then only lasting a few weeks or months at it and dumping it back onto them without a transition plan; saying you'll do something and not doing it at all.) Sometimes you have to buck up and fulfill a responsibility you committed to. However, for open-ended roles and tasks, it's not wrong to evaluate regularly and decide if it is still is a healthy fit. In this case, making myself post daily is not a healthy fit. Continuing to do it just to say I did it is actually indicative of pride and stubborness. So, I'm giving it up. I've removed it from the recurring task list. And for that, I am thankful.
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I came up with 31 particular things to be thankful for throughout January. Focus on gratefulness is a good thing, and a project like this can help one focus on a particular goal or mindset. But the danger in it is that it can become a task--another thing on the to-do list rather than an expression of feeling from a grateful heart.
In recent days I've been realizing the need to further prune my life and task list. I am involved in several circles of influence and can get pulled in too many different directions if I'm not careful. I'm the type of person that needs variety and activity, and does better if just a little bit under pressure, so it's easy for me to jump into new things. But when I start hearing myself say more often, "I can't do this anymore," in regard to the "pinball" back-and-forth mental juggling that scattered involvement often entails, and I'm getting angrier and more and more frustrated, then some pruning is in order. Here are at least three things I chopped or weeded in my garden of responsibility:
1) I stepped down from being the secretary/communicator for our community group. A relatively small responsibility, it was still a regular task and yet another role in life. Thankfully, one of the members was ready to step in to take it over!
2) I simplified the approach to communication for another group I'm part of. My role entails a committment to the end of 2010, but I was able to streamline the tasks in a way that will keep it quite simple.
3) I suspended a particular service my website was offering. After discussing it through email with the small group of women involved, nearly all seemed to welcome the idea of a sabbatical. Guess I'm not the only one feeling pulled in all sorts of directions.
Today, I am pruning the recurring task of "365 days of thanks." Yes, I'm giving it up after only 31 days of posts on the topic. I don't want it to be a daily "have to" nor feel like if I miss some days I have to write 2-3 posts to "catch up." Does this mean I'll quit being thankful? No. It just means that while the experiment was good, and short term challenges can get us thinking in the right direction, it's okay to step down from things after a season if you realize that they are not going to contribute positively to your spiritual, phsyical or emotional health long term.
I'm not advocating being a thoughtless quitter (starting one thing then backing down shortly thereafter, or worse yet, quitting right at a critical time; making a committment to others then only lasting a few weeks or months at it and dumping it back onto them without a transition plan; saying you'll do something and not doing it at all.) Sometimes you have to buck up and fulfill a responsibility you committed to. However, for open-ended roles and tasks, it's not wrong to evaluate regularly and decide if it is still is a healthy fit. In this case, making myself post daily is not a healthy fit. Continuing to do it just to say I did it is actually indicative of pride and stubborness. So, I'm giving it up. I've removed it from the recurring task list. And for that, I am thankful.
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