My Promise List

Truth time.  It’s been a bit of a funky month for me.  Yes I’ve had incredible and inspiring experiences, lucky-to-be-on trips, time with family and friends and lots of general summer fun, but unfortunately behind all the “fun”, it’s felt a little “funky”.  I’m not sure if it’s mercury in retrograde (read here if you’re not sure what this means), too much travel (there can be too much of a good thing) or just a shift – a natural cycle, ebb and flow like everything in life.  Whatever the cause or causes I’ve been dropping sh*t (like a full bottle of fig vinegar), banging into sh*t (I’ve lost count of the lumps on my head), and generally feeling like sh*t.

So, I called in the troops.  Talked it through with my patient hubby (more like tortured him through), hijacked cooking camp strategy convos to discuss “what’s up with me”, and Skyped with an inspiring colleague and friend on the west coast.

Through all of these conversations I kept hearing the same phrase again and again:

You need to do less.

What do you mean do less?  I’m the queen of doing a million things all at once, simultaneously and mostly on time.  I can’t “do less”.  I’m already traveling, and playing and having all these summer good times.

Then I really listened to what they and my own inner voice was telling me:  do less didn’t mean do less of my life overall. It meant do less during the simple day-to-day, all those hours in between the “things”, you know, your actual life.

I realized that I’m not so good at “doing less”, so I decided to ask for support.

I’m making myself a Promise List.  And I want you to check in with me about it (and if you feel moved to do so I’d love for you to let me know some of your own promises so I don’t feel alone).

My Promise List

1. I promise to do less ie the whole point of this list, but more specifically, make fewer “to-do” lists (and when I do make them make them waaay shorter).

2. I promise to feel more.  By this I mean, slow down, relax more, breath more, and generally take a lot more time to get something done than I typically allow so I can actually feel the joy of making a delicious dinner or going for a run, not just do them.

3. I promise to make my family and friends a priority.  In all my doing I haven’t been so great at returning phone calls.  I want my friends and family to feel loved.  If they feel loved, I’ll feel even more love.  More love means more joy.  And joy is exactly what I want to feel (see #2).

4. I promise to work out only when I feel like it.  WHOA.  Revolutionary for me.  At 5-6 days a week every week no matter what I typically live for my workouts.  Lately I’ve had to drag myself to them.  If that’s not a sign that something is up with me I don’t know what is!  So yes, working out less is included in my do less list.

5. I promise to eat a little less.  Fact.  I run better, feel better and sleep better with a little less food on my plate and in my belly.  And no, I’m not talking about a diet or calorie counting, just a little less food.  Because with the heat and time of year and everything going on with my body and brain I just don’t need as much food right now.  And nothing is more important than listening to my body when it’s trying to tell me something.

6.  I promise to ask myself, “how can I do this activity/task/moment with joy and ease?”.  If the answer is you can’t, I’m not gonna do it.

And that is the very essence of this list – joy and ease.  Those will be my two key words for the rest of July and August.  Joy and Ease.

Now, its your turn.  Do you need to pause your summer and make a Promise List to yourself?  Share with me in the comments below so we can support each other.  Let’s start a “do less revolution” [tweet that].