Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda

Action expresses priorities ~ Mahatma Gandhi

“They” say you can’t do it all. Whoever “they” are clearly don’t know me and my competitive nature, or my fierce acceptance of any challenge. However, I will concede that there are not enough hours in the day, especially if those days are filled with the necessity of a job. I am left with the thought of if I even want to do it all? And if not, then what is it I choose, or decide, to do?

A fellow blogger recently said that he has flipped his “To-Do” list upside down, as the items at the bottom never get done. His list, it seemed, was written with fun first and adulting later, which by the nature of being at the bottom, rarely was accomplished. I have traditionally been the opposite, with the should do’s at the top. The chores, the tasks, the items that I should be accomplishing, especially on my days off. This way of looking at my list led to feelings of guilt, and shame, of not being able to accomplish all that I should. In the process of shoulding on myself, I was left unmotivated, uninspired, and quite frankly, grouchy as fuck.

This weekend I decided, I chose, to flip my list upside down and reset by priorities. By my very nature, the things that I want to be doing, that are beneficial to my soul and my well being, were at the bottom, after the adulting was complete.

But you can’t do it all.

This weekend we chose to sleep in, and sleep in we did. We chose to cook a big, indulgent, salty brunch. And we chose to go for a hike, the first one since breaking my foot. Generally, if I’m not hiking by 8 am I wonder what has taken me so long. But this weekend our hike started at 3, what the?! The list was flipped, the priorities readjusted, and all the minutes were spent doing what we wanted, and really what was needed.

The result was motivating, inspiring, and was the ultimate soul fuel. Rejuvenated, reconnected and ready to tackle the bottom of the list. Well, maybe tomorrow.