I realized something today. I will never complete everything on the list. Yes of course I’ll get groceries and change a lightbulb and take out the trash and recycling. But the list of things that need to get done and that I want to get done will repopulate and continue to grow without end.
I think I imagine a day in the not so distant future when I will be done with lists. When I’ll have all the things completed. And I can finally stop trying to put my ducks in a row.
But that’s foolish. The lists will always be there. Growing, changing, evolving. As I grow and change and evolve. I’m a work in progress just as my life is. But I’m always making progress. And that’s the key. And why the lists, the things, the goals will never be totally done. Maybe not even until my dying day.
What I don’t want to do is run myself ragged always trying to get everything done and not allow myself time to rest. Down time. Time away from tasks and projects. That’s no way to live either.
I think if I say down tonight I could come up with a list of two dozen things I need or want to get done. Do any of them need to be done right now? Well maybe a few. But I could make myself mad with it. I could keep coming up with something else even when all the major things have been done. And not allow myself any time for satisfaction.
Lists are a good way to organize our lives. To prioritize. To plan. But they can also be consuming and overwhelming and backfire by adding stress and anxiety where it doesn’t really need to be.
If I can’t complete everything on the list what’s a good goal for me to be satisfied with? 75%? 50%? 90%? Or maybe it’s not about how much I get done but how it enriches my life and the life of those around me.
What’s on your list?
