One of the things I love most about humans is that we are capable of biting off more than we can chew. And we often do so. We supersize things by thinking big, taking on more than we can handle, and bending time and will sufficiently to often do the impossible.
Have you ever stopped and considered all the things that you do, plus all the things that you want to do and are actively trying to accomplish?
Here’s a possible list of such potential accomplishments:
1. Cycle through and fold and put away all the laundry.
2. Clean all the things! (props to Hyperbole and a Half)
3. Lose weight/maintain good health.
4. Nurture and teach children.
5. Nurture relationship with spouse.
6. Any religious commitments.
7. Write a book/story/article/blog.
8. Catch up on scrapbooking for the last three kids.
9. Read good books.
10. Spend time with friends.
11. Do the Christmas/birthday/baby shower shopping.
12. Keep the kitchen stocked.
And so on.
While it might be intimidating to consider all of these things, I hope that you take a minute and switch your thinking so that it becomes empowering.
You get a lot done! Even if you eliminate one or two of the items from the list, you’re still getting a lot done. Look around you: your kids are healthy (overall, I hope), happy and they love you. You love your spouse. When the rain comes down, you stay dry. You’re not wading through a bunch of garbage when you walk around your house. Everyone is wearing clean(-ish) clothes, depending on their daily activities and the regularity with which they pick their nose.
So you’re getting all of that done, maybe sometimes more and sometimes less, and you also want to write a novel.
In my case, I am rewriting my second novel and have a plan to slam out the first draft of my third novel in the next couple of days.
Can I do it? Yes.
It’s a question of values and priorities. I will miss out on Hulu for most of this month because of the writing projects I WILL get done. I will feel better about myself as a writer too, because I will have shown my dedication.
It’s really more than I can chew, but I’ll just keep chewing until I get it done. And that’s a very human thing to do, I think.
I’ll do this because it’s important to me, because writing my stories and crafting them into excellent reads is crucial to my sense of self.
So tell me: What do you love most about humanity? Please keep sarcasm to a minimum.