Saving Time for the Soul

[Erudite]

Better Homes and Gardens May 2008 issue has a short article called "Saving Time for the Soul" on page 162 (which SG mentioned as discussing mono-tasking). It felt like an answer to my prayers. I highly recommend it because it can help put into perspective many of the different threads that are floating around...because it ASKs questions, not answers them. So I thought I'd post the questions and see if anyone felt like answering them.

Very Important Question 1: What do you want more than anything else right now? The article talks about this single Mom wanting to eat dinner with her kids, but not quite managing it.

VIQ 2: What's holding you back from getting what you want? For this Mom, she found it was clutter on the kitchen table, so they were eating in the dining room, which was causing a lot of running back and forth to the kitchen so that she missed most of the meal. But when I was telling my sister about this article, and trying to remember the question, I remembered it this way:

VIQ 2a: What are you willing to sacrifice to get what you want? My sister pointed out how much more profound a question that is, because you DO have to sacrifice something to get what you want. Our lives are so busy that we have to realize that to go after something, something else has to give. In the article, the Mom realized that she had to sacrifice "clutter"...that is the dropping of items on the kitchen table that did not belong there. She needed to make herself put them away and that is a sacrifice in its way. Cool, huh?

The final VIQ was: In the absence of perfect, what is the best possible solution? So if you want the perfect body, and can't afford the chef and the personal trainer, what is the best possible solution? Eat right and exercise on your own, right? But that question too, is so wonderfully forgiving. Sometimes "perfect" isn't attainable or even right for us, but going after what is right is ...right.

I tried to find the article on the BHG site, but couldn't. It's super short and I really recommend it. It's given me a whole lot of new thoughts at a time when I really need to make some major adjustments in my life.

[Erudite]

For me...I haven't quite figured out #1. As I've shared, I'm struggling to re-invent my life with the changes that have recently come to me. I recognize it is a rare opportunity, but it is also very challenging. I've talked to some good friends about it and my sister, who is very wise, and who posed the #1 question to me as well. I am feeling a little caged by my new limitations and so the question "what do you want to do?" is a good one. The funny thing is....I don't know. Here I am feeling caged, and I don't know what exactly it is that I want to do. I'm just sure that I can't do it...which is a completely wrong attitude and my sister helped me see that. So I have a list of stuff I'm supposed to try now and that's why I asked my "what do you do for fun?" question. I'm not looking for all fun, but my list doesn't have any normal fun on it, and I need to include that too. Anyway...I'd love to hear from the rest of you about these questions. Do you know? Do you have a strategy for going after what you do know?

Thanks for listening!

PS I have to add that the given of "rearing a righteous family" and all that is definitely there, and I expend a lot of energy in that direction, but there is something more to MY life than that as important as that is...and it is this direction that I'm looking for.

[bookworm]

I like these questions, E. Wayne Dyer talks about getting what you want in life, and asks, "What are you not willing to do?" I.E. if you haven't already achieved it, you are holding yourself back by your unwillingness to DO something to get it! Kinda makes me think... hmmm...

[Dia Minha]

This is something I have been working on for years, and am just now starting to figure out. There is a similiar concept taught in Weight Watchers. And because I seem to have everything else down and I'm not loosing the weight I believe this it what is holding me back. I need to figure out how to use this tool in order to succeed.