Lazy Tree - Or Simply Efficient?

After feeling so awful, it's surprising how quickly I have rebounded and how good I now feel.  Taking the time to stop (or literally being made to stop) while not a ideal way to rest, did have it's up side.   Taking a break and just stopping all the craziness of running around and doing things gave me the opportunity to just BE.   My attention turned inwards, to my own well being, to my own thoughts, dreams, goals.  What I was doing with my time and my life, as well as what I wanted to do but haven't gotten around to ~ yet.  

It's not quite October, yet the tree outside my office window is already showing signs of leaves changing colour and dropping.  Mind you, I refer to this particular tree as our Lazy Tree, as it is the last one to grow leaves in the Spring and the first to drop leaves in the Autumn. Yet,  it does still manage to do all it is supposed to do even though it seems to spend as little time as possible actually doing it.  I wonder, does that make it Lazy...or Efficient?!

As I head into the new week, I am beginning to consider what I need to accomplish this week and what on the list is really a priority.  I'm very conscious of the now and am making sure I'm scheduling my time in the most efficient way without feeling like I'm burning the candle at both ends.  I have both short term and long term projects I'm working on, and while I'm intrigued and excited about all of them, I also know that in order to do what I want to do, I need to pace myself.

As I gaze out my window at the Lazy Tree, I wonder if, perhaps it has the right idea after all.  Perhaps what I should consider is doing things in a way that works for me regardless of what everyone else is doing.  Like my Lazy Tree who is always last to start growing leaves in the Spring, it begins on it's own schedule and to suit it's own energy and growth.  It may be wise for me to work on my own schedule, with my own energy levels, rather than conform to what's expected.  I know I have the choice of how quickly or how slowly things get done, so it makes sense to choose the way that will bring me the most happiness along the way. 

I think I'll ponder a while longer today ~ and see what choices present themselves when I look at my list through the eyes of choice rather than 'things to do'.

Happy, happy is what I want to be ~ now. :o )

Stop Signs & Other Things To Pay Attention To

The past week had been unexpectedly challenging. It started off well enough, but by Wednesday morning I found I was beyond exhausted and actually spent most of the day in bed.

After sleeping for the better part of Wednesday, when I got up Thursday morning I was feeling better, so I planned out my day. It included an hour's drive north to see a friend and dropping by a colleague's home to pick up some hand-made specialty bath products. At the time it didn't seem like a very strenuous or taxing way to spend the day. However, by the time I got home, I was once again exhausted.

Fortunately I didn't have much scheduled on Friday, so I did very little other than rest. What I realized is my energy has been low for a long time but I have continued to push forward and do things because I felt I "had" to, rather than to just Stop and rest and rejuvenate. Instead, I kept on working and believing that I could keep up the pace for an extended period of time without any repercussions.

More often than not, we know when we are run down, when we are burning the candle at both ends, and when we really need to take a break. The signs are always there, yet, how often do we continue to push the limits and attempt to keep pace when everything in us is telling us to just STOP! Then we seem surprised when we seem to just collapse ~ mentally, physically or emotionally and we are shocked by just how exhausted we feel once we do stop.

I know I need a few more days of rest and rejuvenation before I will even begin to feel better. I also realize that had I taken some time to rest when I knew I needed to, I wouldn't have experienced this level exhaustion.

When all signs point to STOP...it's best to STOP before something happens that will make you stop.

Blessings.

Hello...Hello....?!

My Blackberry phone stopped working the other day. I tried numerous things to get it to work and I even talked to one of those techie type people who are paid to help those of us who are less technically inclined work through our cyber troubles and the end result was the same... it's broken. While I did some initial research into what my options are - do I get it fixed? or do I just replace it? - I didn't actually do either simply because it was Friday of the Labor Day week-end and I just didn't want to spend the time or energy on it. After all, it's only a cell phone, it could wait until Tuesday....couldn't it?

Now, I'm not one of those people who is always on their cell phone. Nor do I constantly check my e-mail on it. That being said, I will admit I have become very accustomed to having a working cell phone since I've been carrying one around for about 15 years now. So, I figured since I'm not a cell phone addict, I didn't need to replace it immediately, I could easily make it through the holiday week-end without a phone. So I thought.

I was travelling over the Labor Day week-end and ended up running late AND I made a wrong turn and had troubles figuring out where I was supposed to be. Normally I would have just called and asked for directions, but alas, no phone...so on I drove backtracking and trying to figure out where I was and where/how I missed the street I was supposed to turn on to. Now, it's not often that I get lost as I always map out directions on how to get where I'm going, yet on this trip street signs were missing and I ended up in unfamiliar territory and no one around to ask. What was even stranger, the street I was on had the same name as the street I was supposed to be on...but it wasn't the right street...it was in the wrong neighbourhood.

I did eventually reach my destination, almost an hour later than expected, but at least I did find it. What I also found out was how much I have come to rely on having a cell phone when I travelled and how I have come to just take it for granted that it's there when and if I need it. It was a strange and slightly unsettling feeling not to be able to call a friend for help or directions when there was no one around on the street to ask. Even a phone booth (if I could find one) would have been of no help because I had failed to write down my friend's new phone number because I keep all my phone numbers in my Blackberry.

So, tomorrow morning I'm off to get a new cell phone because while I may not be a cell phone addict, I have realized that having one provides me with a sense of comfort/security that I didn't realize until now.