Mental Moment-What Would I Rather Be Doing

There are days that I get overwhelmed with the amount of stuff on my list of things to do and there are moments in those days where I can get a bit frustrated trying to figure out how to hold it all together and get through it.

Ask yourself this

During the moments I am aware of feeling overwhelmed and frustrated I’ve started asking myself: what would I rather be doing? In the micro moments of my life this brings my awareness to the feelings of being overwhelmed and frustrated and provides me an opportunity to choose something else. For example, I got a dog last year and for the first 6 months I felt really overwhelmed and frustrated that I had to walk the dog twice a day because this took me away from my work. When I asked myself what would I rather be doing I realized that walking my dog gave me the opportunity to spend time with her (I love her), it gave me the opportunity to get outside and it gave me a break from working so hard.

On the macro level there is nothing else I would rather be doing. I love the work I do. I love working with my clients. For the first time in my life my work is me. I am reflected in my work and my work is reflected in me. It’s this kind of symbiosis that I’ve longed for.

There will be challenges

This does not mean that I don’t have stress and that there aren’t challenges. We cannot get away from stress and challenges but we can view them differently and handle them in a better way. For example, I’ve worked really hard to build my practice. It doesn’t move as quickly as I want it to. It’s still not where I want it to be but everyday it’s in a better place. I started to realize that during those moments when I think this, is when ‘other’ important stuff gets done: the graduate class I teach needs revising, someone wants an interview, I need to write an article, a friend needs support, etc. When I am able to ‘see’ this. it helps me to recognize that these moments are not really stress and challenge but of practicality and growth.

Mindful and at peace

The great thing about this way of looking at the world is that I’ve become very mindful and at peace with what I am doing. Nine times out of ten when I ask myself what would I rather be doing, the answer is nothing. This means I am where I am supposed to be. If I am not where I am supposed to be this gives me an opportunity to change it.

I’ve come to realize that I can push against stress and challenges or I can accept that it happens and move through it as best I can. This allows me to be open to other opportunities, to take a breath, to do something else, to refocus a bit.

Happy start of your week!

Dr. Michelle

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