Multitasking Madness
Are you one of those people who wears ‘busy-ness’ like a badge of honour? Feeling that ‘busy’ means ‘successful’ or happy? While we all need to do what our lives require us to do – there’s a way of doing them that doesn’t include the frantic and often actually stressful ‘busy-ness’ that our modern Western culture seems to holds in such high regard……….
So it’s that time of year again; presents to be bought and wrapped, cards to write, food to prepare, family to organise, decorations to put up, and a little Christmas peace for yourself wouldn’t go amiss either. With a seemingly endless to-do list, we tend to find ourselves rushing around and doing about ten things at once in an attempt to get everything ready in time for Christmas.
The problem is though; when we’re just doing things to ‘get them done’ we don’t do them nearly as well as we would if we did them for the joy of it. There is so much magic at this time of year, and it’s all to easy too miss it if we hurry from one task to the next, stressing about what we must do next. We may think we’re doing everything ‘right’ if we’re rushing from one thing to the next, getting things done – but multitasking really is the opposite of mindfulness, and mindfulness is how we learn to live life fully.
Bringing the act of mindfulness in to our lives – especially at this time of year – allows us to get everything done, do it well, and enjoy ourselves while we’re doing it. We also engage more with the world around us, so we can appreciate the extra time to interact with our family, appreciating them rather than ‘putting up’ with them.
So, for the next 10 days (maybe 11 if you’re having the relatives to stay for boxing day too), lets all start the day by taking a deep breath and actually properly opening our eyes to the world. Let’s think of the people lovingly who we buy the gifts for, let’s write Christmas cards that contain a meaningful message for once! Let’s appreciate how long these Christmas decorations have lasted, how magical they make our houses look, let’s prepare our food healthily and with kind thoughts, taking a minute to think of all the people who were involved in allowing you to have this food in front of you right now. And of course, make sure you have time for yourself, to do something that that makes you feel good and is just for you every day. Whether that be for a matter or minutes or hours – when you have enough love inside of you, you’ll have endless amounts to give to others.
Mindful Monday Quote of the Week:
“We spend precious hours fearing the inevitable. It would be wise to use that time adoring our families, cherishing our friends and living our lives.” -― Maya Angelou
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