photo credit: jurvetson

The only reason for time is so everything doesn’t happen at once.

— Albert Einstein

Just when I begin to think maybe I’ve figured out how to navigate all the demands on my time, fate intervenes and shows me just how wrong I am… or maybe it’s like my mentor once explained to me.  “To truly figure out what a secretary can do, you just keep adding little bits to her responsibilities until eventually no more can be added.  Then you know her true capacity for work.”  Needless to say, he said that many years ago, when executives actually had secretaries.

My life feels a little bit like his suggestion for managing a secretary.  It seems that just when I sort of get things under control, another heap of stuff gets added to my plate.

Recently, a friend sent me an email with the following quote:

‘To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.’  When God takes something from your grasp, He’s not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better.  Concentrate on this sentence… ‘The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.’

Unfortunately, that was followed by “Something good will happen…”  You know what I mean.  Every day I receive a couple of emails promising me riches or peace if I will just forward the email to X people – always being sure to forward it to the person who sent it to me.  I NEVER participate in these chain letters.  Even so, the underlying message struck me as important.  We Catholics have another way of saying it, “God never gives you more than you can handle.”  This unfortunate sentiment has left me wishing for less strength so that I wouldn’t have to handle so much!

Tonight, while I was wandering around the internet looking for something to write about, I came across the following:  When a Window Closes, A Door Opens.  This was part of a slide show entitled 21 Simple Ways to Slow Down and Enjoy Life.  These days I tend to be of the opinion that each day just isn’t long enough to get everything done.

Focus

The message behind When a Window Closes was to focus on what you’re trying to accomplish at this point in time.  Basically, the message was that by having multiple windows open on your computer while working on a project, you fragment your focus and deplete your energy.

A devoted multi-tasker, initially this sentiment ticked me off.  I very seldom do just one thing at a time.  I must admit I haven’t found a way to multi-task writing a post, but if it can be done I’ll find a way.  (Trust me, it can’t be done!  The closest I come is that I listen to classical music while I write.)  But the more I thought about it, the more I knew that it was true.  How do I know that it’s true – because every time I get stuck on something that I’m working on, I quickly check to see if there’s a new email that I need to respond to.  I’m looking for something to distract me from the fact that I’m not sure what to do next.

Driven to Distraction

Why do I want to be distracted?  I’m uncomfortable being stuck!  Lately, I’m having lots of feelings that are uncomfortable and my tolerance for just sitting with my feelings is very low.  At the same time, if I don’t focus on a single task, I begin to create lists of everything I need to get done and I become overwhelmed, fragmented and exhausted.

Added to the fragmentation and exhaustion is a bad memory.  When we are faced with high stress, our short term memory gets worse.  Now I have something else to worry about.  Losing my keys or forgetting to call someone just adds to my overall sense of being out of control.  As the daughter of two Alzheimer’s patients, becoming more forgetful, even in the short term, is not a good thing – trust me.

So, here I am.  When I already had too much to do, another HUGE workload has been added to my life.  Since I was already going through 21 Simple Ways to Slow Down and Enjoy Life, I decided to continue through the presentation – after all they had already ticked me off, I might even learn something that could help.

An Old Lesson Revisits Me

Ok, I have to admit that I didn’t initially believe that there was such a thing as an abundance of time.  In a slide entitled Embrace Time Abundance, Christine Louise Hohlbaum writes “Like time starvation, time abundance is a mind-set. Know that there is a reason for every season. Time abundance states you have more than enough time to get everything done that serves your ultimate purpose.”

I’ve learned a very important lesson, for the umpteenth time.  If you don’t control your thoughts, they control you – and I’ve never yet had good thoughts run away with me.  It’s not just time abundance that is a mind-set.  It’s everything.  I can either choose to accept that what I can do is what I can do and be happy about it OR I can fret and “multi-task” and fragment and forget and get exhausted.  The choice truly is mine.  Let’s just hope that this time I remember.