Friday, May 13, 2016

I Fail at Life...


Do you ever feel like you're just failing at life? That's me right now. I have a list of things to do a mile long, projects that are sitting half finished, and Blackberry Morning has been more than a little neglected lately. I just can't seem to get everything together these days. No matter how hard I try I just can't get everything done. Around every corner there seems to be an obstacle, holding me back from being productive.

The question is: Can I do better? How can I do better? Why am I not doing better? 

I'm usually a very organized person. I thrive on getting things done by making lists and planning ahead, which usually works great, but sometimes things just happen, and when thing after thing just keeps happening, it can be overwhelming.

Looking back on the past few weeks, I've had a lot of obstacles. But with every obstacle, there was still a choice of how I was going to handle it. Some obstacles I ran into were completely out of my control, like my computer not working, a giant tree falling on my perfectly prepared garden, waking up with a sore throat and a headache, or having to take my car into the shop and spending a lot of money. But I also had obstacles that were completely in my control like spending time with friends or going to the NHL playoff games! I mean, how could I miss that, especially considering that I've become quite a hockey fan. I've even got the official jersey to prove it! Going to the games was a lot of fun but it meant that I had to make a choice between going to the games or figuring out how to solve my broken computer problem or moving the giant tree off my poor little squash plants.

When life gets overwhelming, it's easy to feel helpless and to start blaming not getting things done on obstacles that come up. But when you recognize that the choices you make effect your productivity, then it puts things into perspective a little better. It's then that you can decide if the choices you made were worth your current stress, learn from your mistakes, and make better choices in the future.

So maybe the questions I should be asking are: Did I make the right choices? Do I need to reevaluate my priorities? How can I accomplish the tasks at hand by making better choices in the future instead of dwelling on stress?

So maybe I'm not failing at life even though it feels that way right now, because the reality is, for the average person, there just isn't enough time to do everything. There will always be times when I have to choose between two or more ways to spend my time and sometimes unexpected things happen in life that completely derail my plans. But I've also realized that sometimes it's alright to let things go and just enjoy the moment. Five years from now, I probably won't remember how stressed I was, but I probably will remember my team winning a game seven in the playoffs. And sometimes, that's just a choice you have to make.


5 comments:

Allison said...

Great article! This was something I needed to read.Thank you!

Unknown said...

Thank you! I can't believe how exactly this fit my life the last two days.
I feel so much the better for your post. Your right
Important over urgent...

Unknown said...

In times like these I've found it helps to take a second look at the things you did decide to do. Don't worry about what didn't get done, consider what you learned from the choices you made and the benefits that might come from that. Maybe spending time with your friends isn't as "productive" as fixing your computer or garden, but maybe the extra bonding means they'll be more likely to help you out of trouble spots in the future. And even if not, it's worth considering that the people around you are much more important than pretty much anything you can do. Sometimes the benefits aren't physical, but psychological and spiritual. Hope things get back on track for you. Have a great day!

Carrie H said...

Thank you, Sarah! I really needed this.

Unknown said...

It took me a long time to learn that. Hang in there, Sarah!!

Right now, I'm working on separating my emotions from my do-list. It's funny how much stress I gave myself.