A time for everything: the key is in the knowing when

I can obsess over life’s minutiae with the best of them. Pounce on an idea or thought, roll it around, pound it out, stretch it and kneed it, worry it and ruminate on it—until I become paralyzed—hashing and rehashing, attempting to establish if or when I took a wrong turn, misjudged or misunderstood. Oftentimes, I seek freedom from my thoughts through journaling, a safe place where I scrawl my uncensored soul across the pages of my college-ruled notebook. Mostly, though, I pray. Absolved of conventions about where or when or how, I unearth solace on the mountain trails. Just me and God and nature’s playground. It’s here where I often find the answers—and healing—I seek. I’ve mentioned it before, how there’s a time for everything according to the Good Book: A time to keep and a time to throw away… a time to be silent and a time to speak. The key is in the knowing when.

Do you struggle with the knowing when?

Top 2 Ways to Get the Most from Life

James R. Doty, in his book, “Into the Magic Shop,” talks about growing up in an environment of poverty and neglect. At 12 years old, he entered a magic shop and, through a simple act of kindness extended toward him, the trajectory of his life was transformed. If Doty had chosen to blame his upbringing for a lack of potential, this world-renowned neurosurgeon likely would’ve proven another sad statistic. Instead, he focused on his abilities through the power of both the brain and the heart. When tempted to obsess over our circumstances, we must, instead, choose to focus on our capabilities. In other words, rather than look for excuses to set ourselves up for failure, we should latch onto everything we can do. And then do it. I’d like to take it a step further: It also requires faith. Because faith knows we’ve already received and then acts accordingly. It’s like dressing for success before walking out the door.

Do you focus on your circumstances or your capabilities?

Image source: https://psychcentral.com/.

 

No use crying over spilt milk

[Image credit: Idea go]

Before I left on vacation, I was making my lists and checking them twice and I don’t know how it happened, but something fell through the cracks.  Apparently I had recorded a couple of tasks on the wrong days, which almost affected a deadline.  Thankfully, someone else noticed the oversight in time and things quickly got back on track.  Tasks we perform can become second nature to the point where we rarely give them a further thought.  But this situation reminded me that as together as I may look on the outside, I’m still human. Just like the next person, I find myself distracted, derailed or flustered and say or do things I can only shake my head at after the fact.  Instead of obsessing about or beating myself up over my blunders, however, I’m working on wiping up each mess as I go and moving on.   I’ve got too much to do to get hung up over spilt milk.

Do you obsess over your mistakes, or can you easily shake them off?