Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Putting the Octopus to Bed

Here's a funny analogy, but gives a very good mental picture.

I'm sure everyone at some point has had that feeling of being overwhelmed just by life. 

So picture your pet octopus.  Give him a cute name so you can feel good about him, you care about him.  Each of his 8 arms represents an area of your life to which you have a commitment.  Some might include: Kids, Yourself, Finance, a Spouse, Friends, a job.... 

So you're trying to put little Olllie to bed, and you tuck in the arms you're feeling good about.  Check book is balanced - his little Finance arm gets tucked in.  Call home to mom - you tuck in your Family arm.  You went to the gym (good for you!!) - you get to tuck in the Self arm.  And then you see those other arms sticking out on the other side.  That's OK, you have them on your list for tomorrow.  And so tomorrow you can tuck in a few more arms.  But you didn't get to the gym, so that little Self arm on the other side pops back out.  Are you starting to see the pattern? 

And what would you do if you were able to get all those arms tucked in at night?  How about every night for a week? A month?  Well, then you'd probably go buy another pet octopus.

I have to remind myself of this OFTEN.   I can get some things done, and done well.  Other things get kinda done, but then pop back out. I try to do the best I can each day, and some days that is more than other days.  It's so easy to get excited and bite off more than we can chew & then beat ourselves up about not being good enough.  Some of the people I see out there appear to have more time/energy/mental stamina than I could ever imagine.  But that is their day, and I know being spread thin does not work for me in the long term.  So I have to admire them & move on without comparing myself.

But again, CONSTANT reminding  :)

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