Learn to Walk Before You Run: 6 Ways to Enjoy Your Current Season of Life

I don’t know about you but I tend to get a little ahead of myself.  I get caught up in the excitement of whatever is happening in my life that I go a little overboard.  And then I overwhelm myself and none of it becomes exciting.  And that’s just sad.

Let’s take, for example, my life right now.  I homeschool four children (from the ages of 8 to 13) and have a 2 year old toddler as well.  I am a certified birth doula and am currently in more doula training to add to my knowledge.  I am an ever-aspiring yogini who is hoping to begin yoga certification this Spring.  I also serve in my church in the women’s organization.  I love learning about and using essential oils and creating my own beauty products.  I also am an avid reader and have found that I really love this whole blogging thing.  But what all these interests add up to is TIME.  They all take time.  Good, precious, wonderful time.  They are all worthy endeavors of my time, but that doesn’t mean I can create time out of nowhere.  I still have to budget and balance and schedule and prioritize my dreams and goals.

So recently when the opportunity to pursue blogging through another website came up, I jumped at it.  I asked for more info.  I got excited.  I thought of all the things I could do with this opportunity.  And then the dread started settling in.  How can I possibly find time to write more often than I do now?  Can I make such a commitment?

And the rational answer hit me:  no, I can’t do that now.  I need to stop trying to run before I can walk.  I need to stop wanting to do it all now and, instead, enjoy the things in my life I do have now.  So here are six ways we can all do this:

1. Appreciate the opportunities you have now.  Recognize the time you do have to spend on the things you love and show gratitude for them by saying a little thank you to yourself, to God, to your family who helps you indulge your dreams.
2. Enhance the opportunities you have.  Keep at what you’re doing so you can get better at it before adding more to your plate.  Learn more and perfect the knowledge you currently have.  
3. Be truly “present” when involved in your activities.  Spending time blogging does me little good if I’m thinking about the other things I need to get done.  Enjoy the activities while you are actively doing them.
4. Stop thinking about what you wish you could also do now.  There’s time.  I know, I know... everyone says to seize the day and not waste a single precious moment because you don’t know how long you’ll have, BUT, if dreaming about things that you literally don’t have time for in your schedule is causing you stress, let it go.  It’s not worth it.  Not only are you not achieving those goals, but you’re not enjoying what you are currently doing because of the stress.
5. Make goals and write them down for the opportunities you would like to eventually add into your life.  Maybe just a goal or two for the year, like, for me, I’d like to meet other doulas in the area to help my business partnerships grow, or submit one post this year to a blogger website.  Start small, build on.
6. Cut any unnecessary things out of your life that cause you stress, grief, or substantially take away from your current goals.  For me, the biggest thing that causes me stress is the never-ending list of errands I need to run.  I’m trying to learn to condense them or cut them out.  I don’t need to go to that one specialty store for that one certain item if I can do without or buy a similar item at another store I’m going to anyways.

We all have the same amount of time every day to get things done; it’s what we do with it that counts.  I may not be able to reasonably spread myself as thin as I wish I could but if I stay positive and enjoy the opportunities I am currently involved in, then my life will feel substantially more meaningful and full.  I'll be able to enjoy the season of life I'm in now.

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