Scope Creep
Right now I am thinking about how much I have to do and sorting through the “Necessary,” the “Nice to do,” and the “What was I thinking?”
Finding a sustainable flow as an adult is really challenging. I avoid the term “balance,” as it feels rigid and unreachable to me. The whole “work-life balance” conversation is an oxymoron in ways because when we work, it is our life. Literal hours of our day ticking away doing tasks that support our livelihood.
“Finding my flow” feels like something I can do on a day to day basis. But how do I manage the moments where I find myself drinking from a firehose of my own doing?
Scope creep. I seem to be able to open the space time continuum and fill invisible tiny voids of time like the water that seeps into the earth after a rain. Porous.
Once we identify patterns and personality traits, either learned or innate, how do we stay conscious of them and avoid ways of living that do not support the healthy flow of our life?
Boundaries come to mind for me. What boundaries facilitate my personal success at being the best human I can be? The human I close my eyes and feel inside me. Where are my boundaries and how do I keep them strong?
I don’t have all the answers, but am paying attention to that inner voice in me. The tiny one that begins echoing in my heart and mind. The one I want to push down and ignore because it’s asking for me to stand up for myself and protect my flow, when drinking from the firehose feels easier at the time - but completely unsustainable.
Meditation helps me. Taking the time to sit and do nothing. A focused period of time dedicated to finding silence and stillness.
Talking to my husband helps me. He’s seen all versions of me: good, bad and ugly, but chooses to stay focused on that inner Leah Light that is my true north. Even when I’m wondering off the road and zig zagging into God knows where. He can help me zero in on the BHAG of my life and focus energy in the right places. (I never liked the acronym BHAG, Big Hairy Audacious Goal, but it fits here when I think about being almost 41 and my drive to consciously live with purpose and meaning.)
That’s where I am right now and why “scope creep” is all around me. I have the energy and desire to create and do. I want to live boldly and feel the days, weeks and months pass with big, beautiful life happening all around me. But to what expense?
“If you want to save the world, go home and love your family.” — Mother Teresa.
I don’t want to take in and take on personal life initiatives at the expense of my family. I want to be doing actions at the prosperity of them.
So now the question is, “How do I align all my ‘personal brand pillars’ to always come back into focus as I choose to engage with others and fill my limited time on this earth?”
Simple gut checks of the requests and needs of others circling around me. Identifying the needs of my self.
Kid needs. Husband needs. Parent needs. Work needs. Community needs. Self needs. Spiritual needs. Physical needs. Emotional needs.
Who am I?
What do I do?
And why do I matter?
Nothing like taking the core guts of a brand creative brief and applying them to yourself. Such unassuming questions that can build your story or break it.
But that’s it. I accept the challenge. I will pause in the stillness to feel the inner light in me and follow its lead.
Guess I better sign off for now and starting checking off some of those to-dos and to-don’ts I have waiting for me.
Lotsa love,
Leah
