There have been many periods in my life when I have dashed this way and that, trying to get things done, making decisions, feeling pressured and ‘knowing’ that I just need to keep going.
After all, I need to keep moving forward right? And I’m doing important stuff and people are relying on me…right?
During those times, often when it felt like I was on the edge of a nervous breakdown because I was driving myself so hard, no one ever said to me, ‘Lucy, do you know that you can just ‘be’? You don’t ‘have to’ do anything at all.’
Looking back, I wish somebody had told me that. Because they are powerful words that help drag everything in our hurly burly lives back into perspective.
I’m watching a few people drowning in that hurly burly at the moment. Wonderful people who are putting off having fun until later…but later never comes. People who are driven and great at what they do, but gradually burning themselves out. People who think they need to decide now what they must do with the rest of their lives when really their soul is whimpering, ‘Let me just sit a while. Let me just ‘be’.’
Most of us need to work and we all have things we need to achieve and do when we get out of bed in the morning. But our tendency to load ourselves up and do more than we can realistically sustain is very common. And if you’re a perfectionist (like me), you want to do it all perfectly and that creates its own pressures. Meanwhile, any balance in our lives disappears completely and we become the machine instead of the operator.
So I guess my point today is this…if you can’t remember the last time you did an activity that brings you joy (reading a book, playing with your kids, walking on the beach), then make plans to do it now. And I don’t mean plan to do it in a year’s time because you will be a wrung out, resentful rag by then.
If you have a dream that you’re putting off because you’re ‘too busy’ or you’re trying to keep everyone else happy, stop, breathe and ask yourself if you really need to do all those other things. Can you actually have a bit of what you truly want now?
And above all, if you feel like you’re drowning in the hurly burly always remember that you can just ‘be’ and you really don’t ‘have to’ do anything at all. The world will not end if you stop for a moment to catch your breath. It will still be there tomorrow.