Tag Archives: one thing at a time

One Thing at a Time

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Summertime and the living certainly isn’t easy. That is what I am finding. Everywhere I look, there’s work to be done. Everything needs attention. I was immobilized by overwhelmed. I took a deep breath. I can only do one thing at a time. I focus my attention on the greenhouse. It performed well in the spring gifting us with greens and snowpeas. I was looking forward to a big crop of bitter melons this year. But alas, I got an infestation of aphids that got into the peppers and bitter melons. I rescued the peppers and they are thriving in the raised beds outside. I did not have any luck with the bitter melons with 2 different plantings. I’m waiting for a third set of seeds to germinate.

In the meantime I set to work clearing away the chickweed that was thriving in the beds. I planted the 2 basil seedlings and some of my too many celery seedlings to fill the gaps. The cucumbers are doing well as well as 2 bottle gourds.I have a few tomatoes that are now starting to thrive. The greenhouse will be a full house eventually.

CHANGE MY THOUGHTS, CHANGE MY LIFE

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I’m late coming to the keyboard. It’s an exercise day. Sometimes it feels like going to work because it is a must commitment. Today we had Fred instead of our regular instructor. He is always a welcomed and good change, introducing us to a different workout. His warmup focuses on the four joints at the shoulders and hips. It is surprising and amazing how good it feels after. They didn’t seem like such deal deal exercises.

It reminds me to change my train of thoughts. No big deals can bring big results. Change your thoughts, change your life. I think I have that book by Dr. Wayne Dyer. I haven’t read it but I will now. I will get it up from the basement so I won’t forget. I can read a few pages a day. I’m the train that can, remember?

I know I’ve got quite a few things on my plate now. I’m not sweating it. I’m mindfully trying not to rush or multi task. I’m trying not to have catastrophic thoughts of can’t do, no time, etc. I’m doing one thing at a time, putting one foot in front of the other. I think, there is time. I can do it.

I’m moving through my day. Sat with Mark Williams on YouTube for 20 minutes of sitting meditation in the morning. Then I spent 10 minutes free writing for Write Your Journey before heading off to my exercise class. Sheba and I made 2 rounds at the dog park this afternoon. In between things I managed to make 3 jars of kimchi. And now I’m rounding up this post for the Ultimate Blog Challenge. It’s not Pulitzer writing but it’s a serious effort to stay on track.

BEGINNINGS AND RE-STARTS

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Beginnings and re-starts are hard. I had a week’s hiatus from my exercise class between Christmas and New Year. After New Year, I made it two weeks. It’s good to take a break, I tell myself. Saturdays are my swim day. Well, I couldn’t make myself go yesterday. Today was almost the same. My rationale was I might as well start things back on Monday. I’m familiar with that slippery slope. It could prove too slippery to get back up. I bit the bullet, enticing myself with lunch at the mall after the swim. The fabric store there is having a sale. Everything 50% off. That worked. I’ve scaled the slope. I’m back in the groove. The swim boosted my mood and soothed the aches and pains.

I have to keep these things in mind. It’s easy to stop but difficult to pick up again. I’m like an addict falling off the wagon. I’ve swam and gone to the aerobic class long enough now that I have the ‘feel good’ memory in my body. Even with that, I still needed that extra oomph to get going again. As long my engine can still chug-a-lug, it’s wise to keep the  momentum of carrying out the challenges I’ve set out for January as best I could.

It does make my days full. There are times when I do yearn for more time doing nothing. It’s such a paradox because I find that I can’t just sit, doing nothing. Maybe it’s a good sign just to yearn for nothing times.  It shows that I am not bored. I could do some creative brainstorming to see what I want and what works best for me. I am conducting an informal study of doing one thing at a time, not multi-tasking. By informal, I mean just with myself. I’m not charting data or anything like that. I’m noting how that affects my moods and how I function. Perhaps I should keep notes.

I have found that by breaking up a task into smaller parts makes it easier to do. No brainer, eh?  I apply it to writing here. Everything is easier once I make a start. If I get stuck, I get up and do something else like vacuuming the kitchen. I do the same with painting. I would prep a canvas with gesso and let it dry. I go and do some other thing. I come back and do the grounding. And so on and on. Amazing things happen. My post gets written. A painting gets painted. Sometimes it takes a week or so. Hey, it’s a work of art. I give it more time. The best – the house gets cleaned more often. Dog hair gets under my skin.

 

RIDING WITH THE FONZ

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Early morning wakening.  I’m at my desk with my Chai.  I’m browsing Facebook and the Internet.  I am in danger of relapsing into my unfocused/ no mind.  Time to rein it in.  It is like an undisciplined child.  Give it a minute to wander and it will take 2 or 3.  Unchecked, it will take a whole day!

Little things are niggling at my mind, disturbing my zen and sleep.  Little things like – Did I really close the garage door this time?  There’s not much time.  Did I tipped enough? Oh, I wish -.  These little things that niggle, wiggle under my skin!  They are not clear enough, important enough to articulate out loud.  Yet they dig at me, making me mentally squirm.

I feel the furrow deepening between my eyebrows.  No doubt it is from constant frowning. I smooth it with my two fingers.  I could feel my face relaxing and unfolding, the creases and furls smoothing out.  I tap, tap on my keyboard, limbering up the fingers.

Ah, the sun is rising.  I see it peeping through the branches of the spruce trees.  Time to get up, stretch, turn off the lights and get another cup of Chai.  A change of pace might chase away those niggling things.

The sun is shining brightly through the kitchen window, dancing across the room, projecting its presence on the wall.  How beautiful is the morn!  I put water in the kettle to boil and set about opening the blinds.  I catch Sheba scampering off.

I take my Chai back to my office.  I do the 18 moves of Master Wan’s quigong exercise.  I am unsure at first.  My mind is a blank screen, trying to recall the moves.  I have neglected the routine for a long while.  But I as begin the Sunrise Movement, things fall in place. Each move comes to me one by one, finishing with the Sunset.

In the moment, I recognize my dyslexity – my disability of thinking one thing at a time, my inability of finding my way out of a wet paper bag.  I see the whole enchilada, but I have trouble making out any of the different ingredients.  I need the recipe.  I need to take time to register the ingredients.  Otherwise I’m like the cake left melting out in the rain – a MESS.

I was lost, but NOW I am found.  I see my problem.  I rush at life, rush at things, thinking there is no time, no time.  Life is a tough road to navigate with many detours at times.  You cannot jump through all the barricades at one go.  I have to clear one hurtle at a time.

There were many times I had fallen off my bike, thinking I had to stop and get off at the very same instant.  Then someone taught me, drove through my thick skull, that I have time to stop and THEN get off.

IMG_6204I still have relapses into fear, getting on and off a bike.  I breathe and deliberately take the time to stop, get off and start gain.   My brain knows I have the time.  I am working on my mind to catch up.  I will in time become poetry in motion, riding down the street.

I record those moments when I feel ‘one with the universe’.  The phrase sounds nebulous, a little silly, hippyish and as the Fonz would say, COOL, man!

It really is COOL when you are in the flow, when you can navigate life’s highway without stress and anxiety.  You get into the driver’s seat and just go.  You know all the moves of starting up, changing gears, etc.  You know the way.  You can relax and enjoy the ride.