Welcome to The Pause, dear friend. Come on in and make yourself comfortable.
I’m excited to get going this week so we’re gonna jump right in.
Settle in, take a deep breath, and get ready to pause in 3…2…1…
🌾 Flexible
I love opening my calendar and seeing all my neatly organized color-coded events.
Red for appointments.
Yellow for Jazzy's activities.
Purple for Liu Crew family events.
Green for dinners, coffees, and other fun meet-ups with family and friends.
I enjoy getting lost in the sauce -- clicking through each week, slowly planning and fantasizing about how nicely my life is going to unfold for the next one *click* two *click* three *click* four weeks. It makes me feel good to see how brilliantly organized my life is. To see how brilliantly organized I am.
Vibe check?
It never goes according to plan.
Of course it doesn't. You know this and I know this, but somehow, for some reason, when it comes to scheduling my brain hasn't evolved to accept this reality of life just yet. Instead, as soon as I've swept up a blown up calendar of plans, I get to reorganizing what was supposed to happen into it's new—better—place, and settle right back into believing that now, with this new plan, everything is going to unfold perfectly.
It's mental to believe this. And yet, here I am admitting that I am in a constant state of fighting off irritability because the world just cannot get it together. For once. ONCE. One week. That's all I'm asking for (..except lol because the one week I'm asking for is something I ask for every week ).
Lately I've been finding myself curious about questions I think I’ve been subconsciously avoiding for fear of what they could mean for me and my borderline-neurotic attempts to wrangle the chaos of life.
Things like.. At what point does having a color-coded and beautifully organized calendar become dead weight? A burden? More of a liability to enjoying life than an asset to organizing one?
How do I accommodate that--despite my best efforts--I don't live in a bubble where things are going to go according to my plan?
And, is it possible that having more flexible expectations of my calendar will actually help me be more present in experiencing my life? ..Not my life that’s contained in one-hour increments, but my actual, boundary-less life. The life that seems to unfold whether I schedule it to or not.
I'm slowly learning there just might be such a thing as being too organized. Too stringent. Too controlled. Too disciplined. And while I can still gaze at my rainbow calendar with hopeful admiration, it's actually ok--beneficial even--to remember this beautifully constructed calendar will never be able to account for my beautifully unpredictable life.
⏸ Pause & Reconnect
**Get curious. Have fun. There are no right or wrong answers; just what’s true for you.**
Is there anywhere in your life you feel you could be more flexible?
How might becoming more flexible in that area benefit you?
I hope you feel yourself breathe a little bit after reading this. I know I did after writing it.
Enjoy these next few weeks — however they decide to unfold. 🖤
~ L