voices & choices

shel silverstein

I've recently become very interested in my "voice" and have made more of an effort to listen and control it.  Perhaps this newly discovered fascination has been provoked by the article The Secret Rule of Changing Anything combined with the book I'm currently consumed by, The Art of Choosing (both are very insightful reads). Every time I'm about to do something that I know I may regret, or that I know isn't important, I force myself to pause and then answer the question "DOES THIS MATTER?" Almost 99% of the time it doesn't....& then I move on and carry on. I always end up feeling much better than I would have after I'd chosen to do whatever I "thought" I wanted to invest my time and mind into. I'm not perfect with this practice yet but I try to be a little bit more conscious every day & I'm starting to feel really good.

&

Today as I was walking out the door I caught myself thinking about all of the things I end up regretting at the end of a day. This discomfort prompted me to stop,  put my things down, and sit down at my desk for a moment. I grabbed an index card and a Sharpie and wrote out 5 non-negotiable rules for January 12th, 2012. I folded up the index card, tucked it into my pocket, and then continued back out the door to start my day. All day long I could feel the card in my pocket, and I could feel the weight of the rules above me. I was determined to not break any of them.

Sure enough I followed all of my rules and I'm sitting in bed much happier than I have any night this week. I have nothing to regret about any of the choices that I made today. I also managed to be more productive, healthier, and more responsible by following these rules. By addressing them and writing them down before my day started I managed to keep myself much more accountable and committed. I'm eager to write another set of rules tomorrow...

love & learning,