Thursday, April 30, 2009

Simplify and Focus

It’s a message I’ve been trying to get through to my husband for months (dare I say, years?)…Simplify and focus. I keep saying our interests are too diverse. Our energies are expended too widely, our resources (time, money, etc.) are spread too thin and our attentions need to be focused. We need to cut back, reign in, and hone our extracurricular activities. It’s a basic principle. We camp, we hunt, we boat, we fish, we hike, we bike, we walk, we stalk (OK, so we don’t STALK…but I was on a roll there) – basically, we LOVE the outdoors, period. However, all of our interests are fair weather activities. Our life is chaotic and our hobbies all fall within the same time frame. The inevitable consequence is that nothing is done well - nothing has our entire focus, complete devotion, 100% commitment, or our full investment.

It makes perfect logical sense. We should downsize, pick an interest or two - simplify and focus.

Why am I rambling on about this, you may wonder? What is the magical epiphany in all this? In going through this exercise in my head, I came to the conclusion that I should really be listening to myself a little more. I am completely guilty of this in my own life - in my head, in my hobbies, in my priorities. I need to stop. Look. Listen. I need to rewind. Reevaluate. Re prioritize. After all, I am always complaining that there are not enough hours in the day. I have the basics to accomplish - parenting, cleaning, laundry, dishes, bills. Then there are my sanity savers - photos, blogging, reality TV.

A horoscope I received in a recent fortune cookie spells it out perfectly for me. It reads: You cannot be anything if you want to be everything.

Profound, no?

So in saying this and coming to this realization, I hereby vow to simplify and focus. I will pick one or two things that mean the most. I'll focus on my family, a few basics (so as to avoid CPS from knocking at the door when a roach infestation takes over my disaster of a house) and simplify my diverse interests to a passion or two. As a result, I hope to perfect these priorities and excel at that which is most important. Everything else will just have to give (for now). Wish me luck!

2 comments:

Matt said...

As I read this, I thought of a meditative technique called mindfulness. It basically involves the focus you talk about, just being present to the moment or whatever activity you're engaged in. Jon Kabat-Zinn has some really good books and cds on this; a few are available from the library.

Pam said...

I love it, Shana! I vow, in return, to help keep you on task, ok? :) Oh, ps...LOVE the fortune...was that from my desk? The fortune's are usually right!! IWN!