Between Yesterday and Tomorrow
Somewhere between yesterday and tomorrow is today. Today is what you make it. It is what you do, who you spend it with, and how you allocate your time. Yesterday told you it was okay to accomplish things tomorrow. Tomorrow wished you would have done a little more yesterday. Between yesterday and tomorrow you are stuck, consistently, trying to manage the balance between the two.
It is okay. It is okay to push things aside. It is okay to tell yourself that there is too much planned. It is okay to cancel, postpone, and reschedule. Until, suddenly, it is not okay. You realize you have pushed things back so far, now they do not seem tangible. Maybe you have been so closed off that now you feel you cannot be open once again.
Every day I am overwhelmed with the idea that I cannot accomplish everything that I think I can. I used to live in this world of endless deadlines, overwhelming emails, and chores that seemed to stretch to infinity. While I felt constantly in the process of catching up with myself, thinking that I am behind, I realized what is even more mysterious: I am not alone.
The more I talk about this subject, the more I realize, this process is a balance, a scale. It is a scale from 1-10, from A major to F sharp, from 0 stars to 5, from yesterday to tomorrow. How you balance this scale will dictate your life, push you in ways you never thought you could, and rule you to lead your life the way you envision (or more). Balancing this scale is the difference between anxiety, depression, delight, and bliss. It is the opportunity to open yourself up to the world around you. Balancing your scale is balancing your life.
Now your scale is yours, not open to judgement from anyone else. In my opinion, it is yours and yours alone. If you work well with schedules, use it to your advantage. If you work better under pressure, set up your own pressure system. If you have responsibilities that do not fit on your scale (outweighing the scale), remove them, delegate them, and configure a way to restore equilibrium.
5 steps I use to immediately balance my scale (Note: I use a list system*, if lists do not work for you think about establishing a deadline, schedule, or buddy (with a friend) system):
1. Light a candle/open a window/freshen the air
2. Make your bed/clean the dishes/clean your desk/do a mindless chore/give yourself confidence
3. Write everything you think you have to do down on 1 single 8x11 piece of paper - turn it over and do not look at it/quantify and admit your tasks
4. Get a new piece of paper- title the most difficult/urgent thing and break it down further into more parts (the simplest, tangible, to-do's are the best)/realize your important tasks and how to achieve them
5. Stretch, dance, sing, talk, meditate for 5-10 minutes/relax and remember you are human, alive, and breathing
Then TACKLE it. TACKLE that list like a wild person. DIVE right in. If you like to scratch things off your list, DO IT IN A BOLD MARKER. Do not worry about what is not finished at the end of the day, rally in what was accomplished. You will become more attuned to how much you can accomplish realistically the more you use this process. Be BOLD. Be BRILLIANT. Be an EXAMPLE for yourself.
TODAY is between yesterday and tomorrow. TODAY IS YOURS.
-Happiness in Handfulls
*I highly recommend using a bound notebook or electronic list! It keeps all your lists in one place. It is also refreshing to look back and realize how much you actually accomplish in a week, month, or year!