If you’re anything like me, your days are full of things you feel you need to do. With or without my daily to-do lists, I usually wake up in the morning thinking about what I need to do after I finish my breakfast.

Our days are often so consumed with doing, it can be easy to miss the importance of being.

What Do You Need to Do?

Today, I need to write at least two blogs, edit three videos, wash, dry, and put away two loads of laundry, wash the counters, sweep the floor, plant flowers, and get hamburger patties ready for grilling at the park. And that list doesn’t include the other things that I’d want to do if I thought I’d have the time. What do you need to do today?

Why?

An Attitude Thing

I’m not suggesting that you don’t have legitimate reasons for all the things you need to do. I certainly have reasons behind everything on my list.

But similar to Zen Habits’ suggestion to find beauty in doing what you’re doing without worrying about distractions, I would suggest that one’s attitude can determine whether you’re constantly doing, almost like never-ending busy work, or whether you’re enjoying being – living life.

“Stop to our routines that aren’t working. To the way we’ve “always” done things. To the way people expect us to do things…
…Be still in a busy, busy world. Eat slow food instead of fast food. Make time for things that truly matter and eliminate (or minimize) the rest.”
– Melissa, Peace & Projects

I think we might find more satisfaction in our lives if we stop trying to get through our to-do lists so quickly. My chores aren’t taking away time from my life. They are part of my life. Maybe one day, when my body is too worn out to go outside and garden or walk to the laundry room, I will be able to spend all day reading, playing games, and writing novels. But that won’t be a fuller life than what I already have, right now.

Today I need to…

• Enjoy taking care of the house I’m grateful to have so that my husband and I will enjoy a clean, fresh environment – which will make it much easier to de-stress after the day’s work.
• Savor the flavors in my foods, and try to make tasty hamburger patties that will impress my hubby.
• Write blogs, not because I have to, but because it’s something I chose to commit to, something I enjoy, and something I get fulfillment from doing.
• Edit videos and post vlogs to YouTube so that my family out of town can feel a little closer to us, among many other reasons.
• Breathe deeply and thank God continually for life, friends, food, and all the little things. Oh, and for the fact that today, at least, I won’t be bored.

Tumbles: Thank you for my pillow, Mom! Plz to turn off the light now?