LOSING FOCUS AND GAINING INSIGHT

We are just moving from summer to fall where I live, and it seems like I’ve been distracted for the whole season. After not doing much socializing over the last couple of years, it’s been a wonderful, but frenetic, time. In just a few short months I’ve been to my high school reunion in Hawaii, travelled to the Oregon coast for a few days at the beach, done a couple of rounds of dog sitting, and attended the wedding of a dear friend in Washington.

Sounds like fun? I won’t lie, it was! And since I recently painted my way into tendinitis, it was good timing. The problem was that I didn’t have a chance to reset, or in some cases to even unpack. The result was that my thoughts were (and still are) scattered and I’m trying to do too many things at once to attack the chaos. Does this happen to you too?

Because of this I’ve been struggling with overwhelm; and looking back on how it snuck up on me has given me some good insight. It’s obvious to me now that I didn’t give myself enough time in between trips; and this applies to other parts of my life as well.

For example, I never seem to leave enough time to recover after big deadlines. Sometimes I barely even celebrate my successes before moving onto the next project. I realize now that it wears me down. That’s certainly how I managed to end up with tendinitis, because I didn’t rest long enough after a big painting marathon.

As I plan for the next few months and into next year, I’ll be more careful to leave time to celebrate and for some much needed rest when planning my projects. Right now I’m headed out to enjoy a walk in the sun and celebrate a wonderful summer, before turning to fall. I hope you will too.