Since I last blogged on July 5, I have been seriously getting my morning steps in. The evening steps weren’t as successful due to it still being so hot out. So, I doubled my treks around shed row in the mornings. Now, instead of wondering how I can get it all done: Work. My book. Fitness. Blogging. Other writing. Reading. House chores. Time with friends. Trips to see family. The list is endless and probably looks a lot like yours. I have been finding solutions or just letting some stuff go.

This “me time” in the mornings has gotten me to realize that maybe we don’t have to do it all. Maybe we shouldn’t even be trying to do it all. Today or any other day. Every day should hold some down time, time to rest, feel, think, reflect, smile, just be. When we fill up all our minutes with all our “important” to-dos, we don’t leave time for our minds to rest, for our bodies to get proper movement, for our souls to breathe in peace, joy, hope, love, and gratitude. We are smothering ourselves by pushing our limits.

Assessing What I Really Want

As I add more steps to my morning walk, I now have time to ask myself some deep questions. Do I want to continue to write? Do I really like blogging? How can I take my love of photography and do “something more” with it? And do I really want to do that. Add one more thing to my already full plate? After a few questions, I realized that this walking, this quiet, self-imposed, alone time is exactly what I’ve needed in order to address my constant gloom-and-doom of not having enough time to do everything I want to do or that I feel needs to be done.

How about you? Are you experiencing some of the same things? Do you choose to do one thing but know you need to be doing another? Do you choose rest or pleasure over chores or keep putting selfcare off hoping you’ll get a few minutes the next day or week to squeeze it in? My question is where did we get the idea that we always need to be doing something? When I started pondering this particular question, I started wondering why I can’t just choose to do what I really want to do and let go of all the other stuff.

Making a New Plan

As I walk, I realize I have just needed to embrace a new plan. This November, that is if I live until then, I will have lived two-thirds of my life already if I live to the age of ninety. So, instead I’m thinking that maybe I haven’t done everything I wanted to do and that I’m not where I thought I would or should be, I’m starting to embrace the idea that I’ve got thirty years ahead of me to do better, to change plans, to make a U-turn. How about you? Have you considered making a new plan? Are you happy where you’re at? It’s okay to be both. It’s okay knowing we’re happy with so many things in our life, slowly getting closer and closer to our purpose in life, and also knowing we haven’t done it all and can keep striving for new goals to get where we want to be.

We can choose from any of a few different paths. We just need to figure out what it is we really want to be doing and what stuff to let go of to get us there. In my case, when it comes to writing my books, so much depends on the time available to me. When I wrote book one, I had the time to do it. Even though I was working just under full-time hours and traveling from city to country almost every weekend, I had alone time due to hubs’ long hours and recovering from a few mole removal surgeries with limited movement after which gave me the time to write. Now that hubs is home full-time, and I’m working almost full-time hours, I’m hardly ever alone anymore. I have to search out quiet places to read, to walk, to rest, and to write.

Forging a New Path

So I’m realizing, as I walk and think in my early morning quiet times, that I can still find time to write. I just need to let go of some stuff: unnecessary to-do lists, clutter that always needs dusting, things I don’t use anymore, clothes I don’t wear anymore. By doing this, it becomes easier to keep up with what I want and need to do. Less time is spent on upkeep and more time is spent writing, reading, and doing fitness – which are all important to me. I can allow for and make time for thinking a priority in my day – without it my mind is a big mush of run-on sentences, half-thoughts, and lost trails of ideas about this and that.

Already since coming to terms with a few things, I have filed away paperwork that was piling up for months, only getting worse after going back to work again. I have put away all the laundry laying on the loveseat since I started working again two months ago that kept getting higher and higher with each washing. And I have started clearing spaces in this dilapidated house that we can’t really take roost in due to all the cracks, drafts, and other maladies of a hundred plus old house. This means tossing things like old nails I pick up on my walks and odd items which we’ll never use. What a relief to be free of clutter, to-dos, and things that only weigh a person’s spirit down!

Since doing this, I feel as though my writing has become me again. Over the past few months, it was a struggle to sound like myself. My mind was so filled with all my to-dos and all my wonderings, and I couldn’t really see me among the sentences and paragraphs any longer. But now, I’m happy to realize I’m right where I need to be. I just need to be patient as some things work themselves out. And I’m excited that this new chapter of living in the country once again, of unexpectedly working in a church office again, and learning how to co-habitat with a husband who spent most of our life together working apart, is bringing me more joy than I could imagine.

Taking Time to Think is Selfcare

In all this, I realize more and more the importance of selfcare. It’s not something I was raised to think about doing. And maybe you weren’t either. But it’s something we should do. One of which should be taking time to think. Being aware of what it is we want out of life. Becoming in tune with what it is we want to do with our skills or talents. I’m no singer or artist, but I love to sing and create. I’m no gymnast, but I love to work out and be fit. I’m no Oprah Winfrey or Norman Vincent Peale, but I love to inspire people. How about you? Can we be us in our own skins and not let someone else’s talents or success keep us from being successful with our own talent?

It isn’t every day we can decide or know what to do with the rest of our lives. But every day we can choose to do what we love. We can choose what brings us closer to our purpose in life. And we can choose to make a difference in the lives of others. What is it you want to do with today? For me, I want to get some rest. I want to be sure I have time to think about what I’m going to do rather than rushing into something I really don’t want to do. I want to know that I’m on the right path to fulfilling my life purpose. To do this, I need time to think and to be fit.

Asking Questions to Fine-tune

What is important to you? If it’s fitness, start today or first thing tomorrow. If it’s the arts, figure out how to get some training or become an intern. If it’s in the medical field, or the military, or law, you can figure out how to get started today. If it’s getting time to just think, figure out where you can do this. Perhaps it will mean an extra thirty minutes to take an early morning walk. Or maybe a stop by the public library to sit in a cozy corner and read or just close your eyes for a few minutes.

Take time to think about your first step. Find someone to speak with about your dreams. Me? I’m happy to be getting in early morning walk time, continue learning my new job, starting to write again more often, getting some reading time in, having quiet time with my puppy and with hubs. It’s amazing the difference having some walking and thinking time first thing in the morning does for my day. How about you? What one thing helps you think, or feel, better?

I wish you the best in finding more thinking time. It’s vital to our mental health and even our physical and emotional health. Carving out thinking time is so vital in this fast-paced world of ours, but only you can decide what this means for you. Take that first step to figuring out how to grab even just ten minutes to start. I know if I can do this, you can too.

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My goal with blogging in August is to keep thoughts shorter, share some photos, and keep inspiring. So, tune in regularly for more of what’s up with Virg. Brought to you from On the Verge with author, Virginia Alice, Crawford, author of HONOR ONE ANOTHER: The ABCs of Embracing Our Spirit Within (July 2020) and upcoming, IT’S JUST YOUR IMAGINATION! The ABCs to Facing Our Fears. Peace and love always!