Reflections
Saying what we will do
and
doing what we say.
Difficult
only because we think we can do more
than we actually can.
Saying what we won’t do
and
not doing it.
Much more difficult
because saying no feels like failure.
But the more we define what we won’t do,
the more able we are to do what we say
we will do.
The won’t has to come before the will.
When you see her dolled up
on the Facebook feed;
when he’s full on smiling
with “I’m killing it!”
as his creed;
You might begin to think you don’t measure up
with your bills to pay
and
your messed up hair.
But comparing social media selves
with our day to day
isn’t fair
to our true selves
and can lead to dismay.
So, when you open up your social media screen
remind yourself not to accept everything
that can been seen.
When you get
stressed,
anxious,
worried,
ask yourself,
“How important is this?”
Then, take a breath,
and ask it again,
“How important is this, really?”
You may find what was troubling you
is no trouble at all.
It’s not the waiting that will kill you.
It’s the worrying.
I woke in the night
to a blinking light.
Who would be,
could be,
trying to reach me?
Someone posted a new picture
in their Facebook feed;
another sent out an ad,
because they were sure I was in need.
I forgot to turn off the notifications.
and now I can’t go back to sleep.
These are not what I want to be keeping me up at night.
There is so much more to life
than responding to a blinking light.
If you came to believe
there were no ordinary days,
how differently would you live?
Your path is
yours alone.
No one can walk it
for you.
No wonder you feel
lost,
afraid,
unsure,
sad,
lonely.
But if we
would be
vulnerable,
open,
brave,
we can walk alongside
one another.
We could carry each other
when needed.
We could push each other
when necessary.
We could hold each other
up.
We could share the
sure and not-so-sure.
And keep walking alone,
but together.
I know I’m on the right path when,
while working,
I want to keep picking up my
phone to see if there are any notifications.
I want to be distracted from the
work of
creating,
caring,
digging in,
being present,
being vulnerable.
I’ve begun to teach myself --
when my mind wants to
look for distraction,
it’s a notification.
The notification is:
Do. The. Work.
What if instead of spending so much time seeking to
scale,
expand,
upsize,
you focused on one.
One conversation.
One relationship.
One meaningful interaction.
One person.
One couple.
One family.
One at a time.
And the one to start with
is
you.
My dad is a meat and potatoes
kind of guy.
Meat and potatoes at meals.
Meat and potatoes in life.
His farming mantra:
First to prep equipment.
First in the field to plant.
First out of the field with the harvest.
Paying attention to
the basics,
the fundamentals,
gave us a focused and good life.
So I think about my meat and potatoes --
people first,
not programs, or process, or profit.
Work hard, do good work.
Care.
I may not eat meat and potatoes
every meal like we used to
but I’m grateful I grew up that way.
(What is your meat and potatoes?)
