The List that Never Ends~

Have you ever gone to bed at night and just lay there thinking of all the things that you didn't get done in the course of the day? It is not uncommon for many of us to lay awake at night recounting all of the deeds, events, accomplishments, and of course the non -accomplishments of that day.  I had a friend who forgot to go grocery shopping one day, and she remembered it at 1am as she was going to bed.  Rather than wait until the next day to go purchase groceries for her family, she jumped up out of bed and drove to Harris Teeter because she knew they were open 24 hours.  How convenient, you say? Just because that particular item {grocery shopping} was on her list for THAT DAY, it was imperative for her to finish it.  The Famous "To Do" List...Got one?  Sure you do. Most people write down or now electronically enter all the things that need to be done for each day.   For me, I can visually SEE my "to do" list in my mind as I attempt to get a good night's slumber. Well, unfortunately, it is sometimes very challenging to tackle every thing that we have set in our minds to do in one single 24 hour period. With work, family life, civic duties, volunteering, going to work out,  and other things we do in a given day, it just gets  very hard to do it all in 24 hours. Who made this thing called  go to WORK anyway?  Let's see, there are typically 8 hours in a work day [that's not counting driving to and from work which for many people is at least a 20-30 minute trek],  throw in some family responsibilities like taxi-ing kids to practices and extra curricular events, doing laundry, cleaning, and cooking, and much of that 24 hour day is gone. Oh, and we need to squeeze at least 6-7 of those hours in as a good night's sleep...  As for me, my "to do" list each day gets about half done, and the rest is carried over to the next day which adds on a few more items for that day.  It never ends. So, why do we continue to beat ourselves up, miss sleep, or even critique our time management skills when we know that life is going to happen whether the laundry is folded and put away or not?  When the year 2012 came in, my promise to myself was that I was going to establish some healthy boundaries in my life that would give me time to enjoy life more.  I once heard that one of the smallest words in the dictionary is one of the hardest for people to say---that word is "No".  Sometimes saying no to meetings we can't attend, projects we can't finish, and any other instance where this word will save our sanity is best.  Personal boundaries simply mean that only you know what your schedule will permit and what you can do without stress or negative obligation.  So the next time it is 1am and you are thinking about all of the things that didn't get done that day, erase the thought and focus on all the things that were accomplished.  The "to do" list will be around forever. It does get smaller, but only for a few minutes, and then some other task eventually is added on. My learning to establish those boundaries and slowly mastering that two letter word [No] has made 2012 a little less stressful. The project or committee that you chose not to join will go on, the grocery store will surely be open when you awake, and that dirty laundry will still be there the next day. :)