One piece at a time
I have the following note taped to my laptop: “Don’t get ahead of yourself. Just Be!”
I’m feeling supercharged these days. I have a lot of projects in motion and I want to work on them all at once. I’m blessed with work contracts that interest me and creative pursuits that inspire me, but I’m also burdened by challenges with my kiddos and guilt over not being physically present for my grandmother, who is slowly passing several states away.
I want to do everything. Now. But it’s not possible. I have to break it down and 
take it one piece at a time. I set out a puzzle to work on with my kids in our spare time. It’s on a puzzle board on the coffee table in our front room and when we need to clear our minds and take time out, we sort pieces and snap a few in place. It will probably take a month or two to finish.
I realized this morning that my task board mirrors the puzzle board. I’ve 
sorted the pieces and I’m slowing snapping them in place. It’s a process and it takes time, but it’s leading to a beautiful picture of what this chapter of my life is becoming. I’ve finally found forward and if I can remember not to get ahead of myself – to ‘just be,’ I will enjoy the process of getting there more. Because really, life is about the process. Once we get ‘there,’ we don’t stay ‘there.’ We look for what’s next.
I recently finished working through Danielle LaPorte’s Desire Mapping program. If you’re not familiar with her, look her up. She helps you identify your core desired feelings. She breaks life into five essential pieces and flips the idea of resolutions by looking first at how you want to feel, rather than what you want to achieve. What we want to achieve should grow out of how we want to feel.
It was a powerful process for me. I let go of some of the ‘achievements’ I was pursuing because I realized they weren’t going to serve me well in the end. I’ll share the core desired feelings I arrived at:
Capable | Impactful | Inspired| Energized | Hopeful | Beautiful | Joyful
I hope you find yours.
–April