“Life is so busy!” I never thought I’d hear myself say those words. In fact, I vowed I wouldn’t. After all, what I do with my time is my choice. If I’m too busy, it’s a result of decisions I’ve committed to, so I shouldn’t complain about it. Lately though, I’ve been hearing a lot about how to live with ease. It seems that I’m not the only one who finds that their lives are on fast-forward.
This thought originally came to me during what should have been my slow time. My kids were finished school for the summer. We home-educate, so I wasn’t working with them on their studies or taking them to activities every day. But summer in Canada goes hand-in-hand with outdoor projects and lots of other outdoor activity. If I’m not careful, my other priorities can get shoved to the side. This idea of how to live with ease intrigues me.
It begins in your mind.
Being busy isn’t a bad thing. It’s all how you look at it. Have you ever noticed that certain tasks take longer some days than others? For example, cleaning your house can take 2 hours one week and 3+ the next. Or is it just me, lol! I think the difference is attitude and motivation. So how does living with ease affect how we handle other areas of our life?
Who doesn’t want to face life with a calmer, more joyful mindset?
Living life with more ease is an intentional act. It involves getting curious about our attitudes throughout the day. It means pressing pause and asking ourselves questions like:
Am I getting enough sleep?
Our thoughts and emotions can easily spiral out of control when we’re not rested. It can also take what seems like 10 times longer to get anything accomplished. Sometimes it’s best to write down your thoughts and revisit them after a good sleep.
Am I filling my calendar to avoid doing something more important?
Is there a difficult conversation you need to have? Is there a task, like paying your taxes or figuring out how to pay off your credit card debt, that you’re avoiding? Sometimes we create busyness to avoid doing something that we’re putting off. Do the thing. Have the conversation. Once you take even one step towards accomplishing something you dread, you’ll find your shoulders relax a little.
Am I spending too much time comparing myself to someone else?
We all do it. What we may not realize is that very person is probably comparing themselves to someone else. Everyone has areas of life where they shine and other areas where they strive. Appreciate others for the amazing things they do and know that you can and are doing amazing things too. Take that energy and pour it into doing one thing that moves you towards the life you want.
Am I living too much for the future?
Anyone with little ones knows that time flies whether or not you’re having fun. In the time we are too focused on our dream life in the future, our kids grow up. Make sure that you look around you right this very moment and appreciate it for what it is. It may be a difficult time, a mundane time, or a beautiful time in your life. Either way, it’s the only time your get to be in this moment. And one of the beautiful things about the future is that you get to look back on your memories. What kind of memories do you want to have?
Am I overwhelmed because of all the “stuff” I have to maintain?
Whether it’s a big house, a cottage, or a big yard, maintaining a certain lifestyle is time consuming. It can be easy for one person to take on all the duties of keeping the home together. Delegating to others is a necessity. I am also a big believer in de-cluttering. Once you have less stuff lying around and the stuff you do have has a home, it makes a huge difference. Look around you. Is there a certain part of your home or office that stresses you right out just looking at it? Start there. It can make a huge difference to your levels of ease.
Am I being grateful for what’s already working in my life?
We are conditioned as a society to keep striving for the next milestone. To keep reaching higher and higher. Two questions I ask myself regularly to get out of this tendency are:
- “What’s happening in my life right now that I’m most grateful for?”
- “Who is in my life right now that I’m most grateful for and why?”
Am I ready to let go of some of my plans to make way for something better?
If you’re in the habit of writing your goals down, you may notice that there are some goals that have been there for 20 years. You’ve never taken the initiative to make them happen. The time has never been right. Some excuse has come up. Today, I give you permission to scratch those goals off your list. Maybe it was a goal that someone imposed on you. Maybe your vision for the future has changed. Own that. It’s a good thing that you’ve changed in 20 years. Now go and do what you really want to do! I’ll join you, k?
After answering these questions for yourself, you may still feel busy. But hopefully you’ll be busy living the life you really want to be living. Or at least something close to it. I sincerely hope you find that as you do, you begin to feel a sense of ease enter your life and that you feel joy.
Tell Me:
What area of your life needs more ease – a more sustainable pace? Your work, your home-life, your other commitments? Let me know in the comments. Stating it can be the first step to making life-giving changes.
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Blessings,
Sheila
