- Be great at your craft
- Be there for all of your friends in their time of need
- Be spontaneous and fun
- Earn a good living
- Own a home
- Stay up to date on all the current news
- Walk the dog
- Act
- Dance
- Sing
- Play the Ukulele
- Always be understanding
- Sleep 8+ hours a day
- Eat Right
- Exercise Regularly
- Read the great books
- Write a novel
- Inspire students
- Leave the world a better place
- Be a good girlfriend/boyfriend/husband/wife
- See theater
- Travel
- Be a good parent
It seems like it's possible. So you're trying to do it all right now... and you're failing miserably.
The thing is, you don't have to do it all right now. Life is long enough that you'll get to take a solid crack at most of those things on your list.
An Anecdote:
For her entire adult life, my paternal grandmother talked about wanting to read books for pleasure. But as a wife, mother, small-business-owner, association president, and caring friend she'd find herself too tired at the end of the day to do anything other than turn on the TV as she fell asleep.
A couple years ago, she moved from an assisted living community to a nursing home. Her husband and most of her friends were dead. Her children were grown and her grandchildren were scattered about the country. She was in a very dark place and I was afraid we were losing her.
Some time, a few months back my father gave her a book, "Chicken Soup For The Soul." For want of company and anything else to do, she began to read. A few days later, she asked for more books.
When I visit her now, her chest-of-drawers overflows with books. Dozens, most of them she's read twice or more ("Chicken Soup" and "Marley & Me" are among her favorites). Despite her surroundings she has reclaimed her joie de vivre.
So don't beat yourself up for giving up the rock band for the picket fence. Right now other things are probably more important. But who knows, you might get a second shot, this could be you someday...
4 comments:
There's a book called "I can do anything I want if I only I knew what it was" by Barbara Sher that addresses the root of this issue.
She calls it time sickness and for many many years I was afflicted with it. Though I was young, (quite younger than most anyone else who goes through this, except for maybe you Donovan ;-) I still had this overwhelming feeling that time was running out and if I didn't do it all RIGHT NOW I would never get to.
What she says to do about it is extend your "time horizon" or how long you think it will be before you can't do those things. It's an interesting exercise and I've found that, in general, planning to do a lot of things creates a lot of extra work than simply doing them when the opportunity presents itself :-)
Yeah, wanting to do too much can be a paralyzing thing. Better to release that *need* and allow things to happen when the time is right.
Which is not to say you should become a layabout. It's more about putting energy into those things you currently have the most inclination and motivation to do.
i needed that read, and this was the perfect time for it. thanks man. check your email.. hope all's well.
Karthik - Glad you enjoyed the post.
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