I hear it all the time.
“I’d love to ___ but I just don’t have enough ____.”
“Someday I hope to ____. ”
“This is exactly what I want! Let me know when it’s happening next year and I’ll plan for it.”
It swirls inside my head, comes out of my mouth, and I hear it from almost everyone I encounter. How can we be so willing to hand our dreams over to excuses and “somedays”? Where does “someday” live? Could we get together?
Let’s be real. How many excuses have I made to inhibit the flow of writing? Let’s just start with today’s list: It’s monday and I haven’t worked all weekend so I can’t wake up and write, I need to get something done first. I can’t write at lunch because I was staring at the computer all morning and I need a break. I think I’ll read and send some emails. I don’t know what to write about (even though I have a list of 25+ ideas). I’ll write after dinner. After I clean up the kitchen. And fold my laundry. And practice yoga. And make a phone call. Maybe some chocolate would help. Okay, I’m ready to write now. Except, maybe I’m too tired and I should wait until the morning. I could wake up early, light incense and candles, make a cup of tea and then it would be perfect.
I’m not buying it, Ms. Someday. The beauty of writing NOW is that it’s real. It’s not out there in the future or floating in my imagination. So much energy and time is given to creating and feeding excuses that if all those scattered moments were redirected into what I’m really passionate about I’d be swimming in creativity!
My mantra lately is: “Is this what I’m committed to?” One of my beloved teachers, life coach Grace Caitlin, suggests that whatever it is we’re doing is what we’re committed to in that moment. So if I’m saying I want to write but instead I’m folding laundry, then it’s actually the act of folding the laundry I’m committed to. I would have protested in the past – no, it just has to be done first. Does it? Who says? Will the Laundry monster come and eat up all my clothes in the night if I leave them in a stack on the chair?
Writing is just one example from the myriad of dance partners my excuses choose. They are fond of discovering a workshop, training, or vacation I’d like to be a part of and then telling me I don’t have enough money. Or time. These are whole blog topics in themselves and I will be turning my attention to each of these in coming weeks.
Letting your excuses know you’re onto them is the first step. Once you see them you’re more likely to laugh at the absurdity and choose to recommit to your vision.
Try it on this week:
- What am I committed to?
- What are the excuses I tell myself to avoid it?
- When I am living in these excuses what do my actions say I’m committed to?
- Is that what I want to be committed to?
- Act in accordance with what I am REALLY committed to.
- Know that I am likely to repeat this cycle a few (hundred) times and love myself anyway.