But today I wanted to give a tip that involves a plate of a different kind...our 'plate' of life responsibilities. Most people I know always have over-flowing mental and physical to-do lists...usually it's a combination of life's must do's, should do's and want to do's. While this is ok and even good to some extent (to have ambition and things we want to get done), many times these over-flowing lists are a major source of what I call background stress. For me, it's that nagging feeling of never being 'done' and seeing a million projects everywhere I look. For the most part, the over-flowing lists and background stress are a product of having more on our plates that we can digest. And while it's common sense that we shouldn't overload our plates, it seems to happen all too easily in today's world!
So here's today's tip: If your plate is over-full, don't add anything new until what's already on there is under control! This means if you already feel like you're having trouble keeping up, don't jump into new activities, business ideas, committees, etc. I always have to remind myself that for most things in life, it's not now or never. Things can wait. If you really want to do them, you'll come back to them. This might even include delaying fun things like planning a big family trip if your background stress is keeping you from fully enjoying your want to do's. Does this mean you have to wait until you've got all of life's responsibilities completely under control? No, of course not! That would mean many of us would never get to the fun stuff. But if you're like me and you're bothered by too much 'background stress,' take a breather and hold off on adding more to your plate until you're feeling like you can handle it! Fair enough?
I almost bought those plates at Crate & Barrel! You have great taste:)
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