Often

By the time I get to my desk in the morning, and sit down and write a list of all the different things that are crowding around in my mind, calling out to me to take care of them today...

I am already tired out!

Sometimes the sheer amount of work that I have waiting for me to get to it is simply overwhelming. And lots of it isn't even what I consider my "real" job. The majority is little life tasks that I must do. Like on today's list, I have 10 items related to house, family or finances -- that will be five to ten hours of work today right there. Plus I teach on Mondays, another job that I don't really count as my "real" one, more of a low-paid indulgence for me. A good deal of the work I do is tasks that must be done over and over again. Cooking meals, doing laundry. Dusting. Sometimes it's like running around on a hamster wheel, just cycling back through the same places. But it matters. And that's pretty much a metaphor for life in general, so...

Oh well. I just tell myself to take it one task at a time, one step at a time, and to try to enjoy the process all along the way. I have a grant application that I've been stuck on for a looooonnnnggg while. Today I'm going to try to just answer one question at a time, one paragraph at a time, and then leave it and move on to something else. There's like 20 questions, so I should be able to have it done by Friday.

On an upbeat note, I think I'm going to enter into two consecutive energetic cycles. After the tremendous drain of October, I feel ready to devote some energy in an intentional way again. So I think from now to November 27, I will do 22 days of  cleaning and clearing out. Each day I'll get rid of some clutter or disorder that is weighing me down.

Then from November 27 to December 25, I want to celebrate all the blessings in our lives with another 29 days of giving cycle, with a focus towards Christmas charity and cheer.

(Is my math right on those? I counted them out this weekend, but I'm too lazy to go check a calendar right now.)