I have spent the last 25 years of my adult life running at a very fast pace. I am always trying to get everything done and I am always running out of time. I’m not halfway though one project when I have mentally shifted to the next twenty things I need to work on. I even buy cool little note books with post-its, side pockets or fancy pens. I have dozens of them. They are everywhere in an attempt to make “List Making” a fun activity. It is not a fun activity.  It is a brain balm so you don’t keep thinking about forgetting something but, it is not a fun activity.  Repeat after me.  List making is not a fun activity. Don’t get me wrong, it is a great feeling ticking off those items on the old “To Do List”. But it is still not fun. Satisfying yes but, not fun. Besides, at the end of the day, I have a completely new list just as long for the next morning.  A smarter person might have caught on sooner and yes, it really did take me 25 adult years to get to this point. So here I am, asking this simple question: When am I going to have time to ENJOY doing the things I like to do?  It doesn’t matter what it is. You get to choose. Read a good book, watch the Tudors  on TV (I love that series), garden, get your nails done.  My problem was that even these things had become items on a list to “get done”.  These were no longer activities to enjoy or savor but a line item to be checked off. Now that sort of takes the “fun” factor out if it and makes it just one more chore.  I HAVE to get my nails done and I HAVE to buy Debbie a birthday cake. Time was when these were fun things to do. And they should be fun things to do. I mean really, at least I didn’t HAVE to bake the cake. Those of you who know my cooking skills will understand. And trust me on this; Debbie is way better off with a store bought cake. So all those “I would like to” or “I would enjoy doing”  have turned into one more “I have to”. Is it as simple as turning the phrase around? Is there more to it?  Think about what fun things you would like to do for yourself, think about enjoying the things you already do and then do one more fun thing this week. Do not put it on your list!

xxoo

Annie