Lift Up Your Hearts!

Just as with #2 Rediscover Feasting, there's a lot more to this resolution than meets the eye.  But if I called this resolution "Get Organized," it would sound boring and not a few of my readers would laugh.

I'm not naturally an organized person, and I've made many attempts to "get my life together."  Some have been more successful than others, but none has stood the Stress Test:  Nearly any system can work when conditions are right, but the only one worth implementing is one that won't fall apart when the floodwaters of life start to rise.   In my case, "floodwaters" is loosely defined to include any disruption in my schedule, bad or good:  from hurricanes and illnesses to vacations and visitors.

That's why I'm so excited about Getting Things Done:  I saw how well Janet's implementation (and she's still tuning it) worked as she made the transition from teacher/graduate student to full-time, first-time mother, a definite stress test, and definitely successful.  I've only just begun to try to implement some of the GTD ideas in my life, and I'm not Janet, but there are promising signs.  If I can avoid any significant stress tests before I get it securely in place, I have great hope.

What does this have to do with enjoying spontaneity?  To paraphrase Winston Churchill:  Organization is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.  It's very difficult for me to relax (see Resolution #3) and enjoy spontaneous activities—or planned activities for that matter—when the thousand-and-one items on my personal to-do list are whispering, nagging, or screaming at me from my subconscious mind.  Whether or not other people would agree with me on the importance or urgency of the items on this list is not the point.

In order to hang out with friends or take a long, aimless walk and truly have nothing on your mind, you’ve got to know where all your actionable items are located, what they are, and that they will wait.  And you need to be able to do that in a few seconds, not days. (GTD)

GTD is not, first and foremost, about getting things done.  It's a consolidation loan for the disorganized:  all your activity debts—everything you must do, should do, or might want to do—are gathered into one system, with a plan for paying them off in small, easy, but consistent steps.  In the process, mental health improves, creativity is unleashed, and ... Things Get Done.  That's the theory:  we'll see if I will soon be able to say, as Janet did: 

[GTD] turned my life around from always feeling overwhelmed and behind to feeling like I knew where I stood and how to get where I wanted to go.  This freed my mind up to enjoy time relaxing with people rather than always worrying about the known and unknown things I had to do.

Then I will have a chance of being able to enjoy spontaneity.

Progress Report

#1  Read More Books  Now that's more like it!  I'm back on track with six books in July.  I was partly inspired by knowing I had only one month to enjoy Janet and Stephan's library, and partly because it's easy do what the people around you are doing, and Janet and Stephan are often to be found book-in-hand.  Even when they are also baby-in-hand.

#2  Rediscover Feasting  In the land of fabulous bread, cheese, and chocolate, how can you not feast?  The trick is in returning to "ordinary time" at home.  I'm still working on it.

#3  Learn to Relax  I bought a book on Alexander Technique from Janet's teacher, though I only read half of it this month—when I remembered that I would be taking it home with me, I switched my attention to books I would be leaving behind.  I've been trying to increase my awareness of my muscles and trying to learn to relax them.  I also hope to learn something from observing Stephan's way of reacting slowly and calmly to situations, instead of with my normal adrenaline surge....

#4  Like More Things  For progress on this resolution I highly recommend spending six weeks in a foreign country.  Make that living six weeks in a foreign country.  There's something about living daily life that transforms the new from strange to comfortable—or even delightful.

#5  Pay Attention  I keep forgetting about this one.  I got distracted during a critical turn on a walk in Bern and didn't realize what I had missed until I was required to retrace my steps on my own—but I eventually figured it out.  In other areas of life—such as my inveterate multi-tasking—I need to work harder even to think about this resolution, let alone make progress.

#6  Cast Away Fear  Solo travel, living in a foreign country, and childbirth provide good opportunities for practicing Philippians 4:6.  If my victories are baby steps, they are steps nonetheless, and I'm happy about them.

#7 Talk Less, Listen More Whether or not it was visible to those around me, I made some progress here.  It's easier when the conversation is in a foreign language.  :)