I subscribe to this free weekly e-zine called PAUSE. Here's an interesting article I received this morning:
"REFLECTION:It was late in the evening just before Hallowe'en. I was chatting on the phone with my daughter, and had just recited the litany of tasks tackled so far that day. It had been a demanding day in the office. I had followed up my post-work exercise class by running several errands on the way home. And, I'd invested a couple of hours getting things ready around the house to host a guest for the weekend.
As I finished giving report on my day, I heard myself say, "And I still HAVE TO carve the pumpkin before I can go to bed."
Wise offspring played back my very own words. "You HAVE TO carve the pumpkin?" I could hear the raised eyebrow in her voice. She knows how much I enjoy creating those Hallowee'en jacks.
And in that moment, I realized I'd just loaded myself down with yet another DB - a Discretionary Burden.
There are all kinds of tasks and experiences that will take a certain amount of time no matter what our frame of mind: traveling to a business engagement, attending a community meeting, visiting an elderly relative, even carving a pumpkin.
But the nature of our experience depends on whether we approach it from an overburdened sense of duty and obligation or with a lighthearted sense of joy and service.
Each task that we peg as an obligation adds to our feelings of overload. Those tasks approached in the willing spirit of service have an entirely different impact. They contribute directly to our satisfaction and a sense of purposeful engagement with the world.
ACTION:
The good news is we are each in charge of our own mindset. When you feel overloaded and overwhelmed, watch your thoughts and listen to your words.
See how many tasks you turn into Discretionary Burdens as you make your way through the day. The fewer tasks you tag as DB's, the lighter your load will be."
>From the e-zine, 'PAUSE '. Copyright 2008 Patricia Katz,Optimus Consulting. (877) 728-5289 or www.pauseworks.com.
7 comments:
I think this may be the crux of blogging. By putting down into words and reading what we have written, we can catch ourselves. We see that our Discretionary Burdens are shared with other bloggers. We see that we are all in this together, sharing the same goals. And we change our Discretionary Burdens into Purposeful Engagement because we find we are lucky and blessed to be able to do the routine tasks that are a part of the joys of parenting.
Simplified: Nobody said adulthood was going to be easy. :)
Yes, so true. And this is something that I've been working on since moving to England. So far so good, but I do have good days and my bad days. I do a lot of deep breathing on the "bad" days and remind myself it doesn't all HAVE to get done.
;-)
hear hear Mr Bill. Purposeful engagement it is (or I'm going to try anyway)
Just a plane ride away, I had you down as the purposeful engagement type all the way, you are always so upbeat.
Interesting, thought provoking article,Christine. Thank you .It inspired me to leave blogging this morning and do what I was supposed to be doing. -that burdensome Thursday chore house cleaning.With transformational thought I changed
the task into a priviledge. Thousands would be grateful for just a roof over their heads and thousands more would love to have the physical ability to just wield a duster
I went to work with a will (perhaps Lilly knows him too)
love your comment Barbara. I think I'm going to make a sign 'purposeful engagement' and put it somewhere I can see it every day (lest we forget).
I volunteer at a hospital and although it is after a looong weekend with just me and my five year old, I do not in any way consider it a burden but many other things I do and thanks for enlightening me on how to make each day seem a little better than I otherwise would have thought it to be.
Bernthis, so glad the article was helpful, good for you for volunteering your time like that when you're obviously a busy person. Today, I was consciously telling myself I should say 'I have to do..' I should say 'I want to do...'
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