9-19-13 RMB Full Plate

9-19-13 RMB Full Plate

Dear Rita Mae Brown,

Sometimes it is hard to tell what task is most important when our plates overflow. The books I read direct me to list tasks and evaluate the one of utmost importance by roi (return on investment) or to define my values and choose the task that aligns most with my highest value or to schedule task by date and hold firm to those dates, regardless of the weather or the way the day sways.

There are as many methods as there are individuals. There are numerous books defining each author’s method of preference. I have read dozens of them, yet my path remains unclear, my plate still full.

My conclusion, as long as there is life, plates will remain full and tasks will mount. I say, let them mount. Rather than piling them high on one plate, create a banquet table of tasks. Bask in their abundance. Then sit back and do what feels best, not the most productive or the one most important to any other single individual, but the one that feels best in that moment to the person partaking of said task.

In life, we can’t do everything, but we can do something. We can’t do it all, but we can do that which brings us joy, that which marks our path and paints a picture of our life that will leave a legacy we can be proud of, one we are honored to share.

Today, work was overwhelming. I did all I could, but not all there was to do. In the evening, I took the boys for a walk and we ended up at a pizza shop playing Flux, a card game. In ten years, maybe even in one year or one month, I won’t remember the tasks I did today, but I guarantee that in ten years, I will remember the boys as we played that game, their faces, the attitudes, and their enthusiasm.

Was that time with them the “task” of highest roi, the one that fit my highest goal, the one that was scheduled? My time with them was what I ended up doing when I thought my tasks for the day were done.

What if we looked back on our memories of yesterday, last month, last year, and found what held the most impact, the ones important enough to remain strong and tactile in memory, offering lingering joy and pride, and then looked forward, filling in our “tasks”, catering our days, to that which we might want to look back on tomorrow, next month, next year?

I think I shall schedule a pizza game night date with my boys. Why let our best memories happen by happenstance, while trying so hard to accomplish all those things that will be soon forgotten?

Wishing you fulfilling memories,

Loraine