Getting Out There to "Carpe This Diem" Can Sometimes Mean Sitting Down

Getting out there and really grabbing a hold of the day is a great feeling.  We have all had those days when even in the middle of it all, you have an awareness of how on fire you are. You are solving problems, finishing projects, cleaning up and getting it done! A real sense of accomplishment in your day feels great.  Do something that you have been meaning to get to. Maybe clean out that drawer in the kitchen, or maybe paint that piece of furniture that's been crying out for some TLC for years, take that drive into the country or spend some quality time with that book that a well intentioned you put on your night table to collect dust.

If you are reading this post that means that you woke up on the right side of the dirt today and that you have a day ahead of you that is full of possibility.  I invite you to shake it up just a little.  Let go of a few of your "shoulds", the dishwasher can wait. Try adding something to your day that is on your enjoyable list of wants instead. We spend so much time looking at what we still need to do to get to where we want to be, that sometimes we can forget about the awesome of where we are.  I have been guilty of that all week long.  But not anymore. I am putting my foot, and my paint brush, down and I am going to enjoy a little of what is already done.

For the past 6 weeks my living room has been piled full of furniture waiting to be assigned its new home.  We could have just moved it in to the rooms where it is destined. But the rooms, and the furniture, need paint.  And so we waited.  But with work schedules being as busy as they were for a few weeks, nothing happened.  The furniture sat, the chaos grew, and what had begun feeling like an adventure began to feel heavy instead. That heavy took a tole on my whole self.  Thanks to the help of Karen Hillfman-Millson, a great coach and fantastic friend, I saw that the timing of my recent exhaustion and lack of creativity was closely tied to the mess in the living room.

I knew what I wanted and letting it just sit in wait was holding back more than just the transformation of rooms, it was holding ME back. And since it was now clear that nothing was going to paint and move itself into place.... I took action.

It's been a busy week but the living room is live-able. One bedroom and its furniture have been painted and a beautiful space created.  A second bedroom has drywall mud drying and awaiting its turn for colour. Two other rooms have furniture rendering them useful spaces, their beautifying transformations await - and perhaps will wait until the fall, but I can breath again now.  My space is back to feeling like an adventure. The heavy chaos has been lifted.  It took some conscious and dedicated effort to move the project forward, but then I just had to let the ripple effects that had poured into all areas of my life do the same again.  Only this time for the good.

I am on a role. I could keep going.  I am guilty of having a mojo flowing that wants it all done now - or yesterday even.  I easily focus on the projects that lay ahead.  Lord knows there are a lot of them. But I can almost hear Karen asking me how I feel about what was accomplished last week. Good question Karen, one I would ask to my clients too. Karen - I feel so good that I want more. Which is amazing, yes I know. So lets hit the pause button for a moment.  It was fun doing it. Let's not rush through the fun. Let's bask a little. Enjoy it in each stage. Carpe this diem and make a change for the good, I absolutely recommend that.  But lets also carpe this opportunity to enjoy the diem and the journey and not work to so hard that we forget to engage in what is now. I am loving what I see. Full stop. Pause. Just love this moment for a moment, and THEN reengage in this awesome feeling of accomplishment and keep going.

I invite and encourage you to get up off of your butt and do something that feels good for you and moves your forward. And then sit back down and enjoy it as it is in your now. Then get up again and continue the cycle. Both the doing and the enjoying of what has been accomplished are a part of what makes its all feel like the adventure that you are here to have.

Do you have projects that you would feel good about enjoying the accomplishment of? Do you remember to bask in what you have already created or are you guilty of the same "let's get 'er done" mojo that I am? How do you keep yourself from getting caught up in that?