Running on empty…

We have an interesting trend in our world today. We are ALWAYS trying to do more with either the same…or even less. And sadly, it seems that we are simply intent on seeing how far we can actually wear ourselves down.

We stay up too late…sleep too little…get up too early. All in the name of doing more “stuff”. For a lot of people the day starts at 5 AM and doesn’t end until 11PM. And we try to cram as much into each and every minute as we possibly can.

With what result?

Chronic stress and hypertension are at all time highs. Suicide rates are up all over. Divorce is outpacing marriage. We have prescription medication that treats every symptom that you could ever possibly manifest. Alcoholism has gone through the roof and we’ve even created NEW ailments for our generation such as “Road Rage”.

In a quick comment…WHAT THE HELL???

It almost seems like we have a distinct inability to manage ourselves and we’re spiraling completely out of control. Looking from the outside in…it’s only a matter of time before we, as a people, go BOOM and implode…or explode. You pick.

So why is it that we seem to be SO drive to driving ourselves straight into the ground? And…are we unable to stop, step back, enjoy the ride, and find that bit of happiness that is ours?

I believe that it’s a matter of focus. We all want to succeed and most of us have been raised to believe that the only path to success is simply more and more hard work. So we fall into this bear trap that causes us to load as much work as possible onto our shoulders and then continue looking around for a bit more. “No” had become an almost unknown word. Especially in the business world. It seems that everyone has a fair amount of fear or losing the job or not getting the promotion or bonus or whatever. So we keep accepting more and more and more.

If you have a family, maybe that’s where you shoulder all the work you can bear and then some. We all want the absolute best for our family and most of us are willing to do whatever it takes to succeed in that. Again, sometimes “no” becomes a foreign word.

So, since we all know what happens when we run like that for too long…why do we keep doing it?

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. – Albert Einstein

So what CAN we do? This one is a bit difficult. You have to have a paradigm shift in the way you view things. You have to be able and willing to let go of fear and be willing to live out of a sense of peace from your heart.

Let go of fear…whoa. Everyone wants to do that, right? I don’t think so. I think that sometimes we get SO inured to our fear that letting them go is almost like losing a good friend. We are more comfortable in fear than not.

I want you to have a paradigm shift concerning what you THINK you NEED to do to keep what you already have and gain what you want. The problem is…I can’t just give you a paradigm shift. It’s something that just has to click for you. But I can tell you a few things that might help.

• You are not your work, any more than you are your successes or your failures. You are YOU. The rest are just awards
• No matter how MUCH you do today…there will still be more to do tomorrow.
• By not making YOURSELF a priority, you are hurting every other priority you may have.
• You must first effectively utilize the time that you have and the load you currently carry, before you can hope to effectively take on anything else.
• Sometimes…the best option is to get rid of something.
• Saying “No” is not a bad thing. Sometimes it’s the BEST thing for you to do.

And lastly…

• All that shit you’re trying to get done today…will be there tomorrow.

Just remember something…it’s not all about how much you get DONE with the time you have…but rather, how well you LIVE with the time you have.

So here…sit down…have some Rum…kick your shoes off…and let’s just enjoy BEING for a bit.

No one knows how many days they have left, so make the most of today, with what is most important. – Me :-)