My wife says that I can never be in the moment. I think that is largely true although never is a strong statement. I would say that it is probably more like 90% of the time. Next week, I will take Thanksgiving Day and have zero expectations. The other days will be fair game to either doing something productive or most likely wishing I was.
Throughout my school years, I read a lot. I really do mean a lot. During that time, I probably averaged a book a week. There were some times where I would read two or three books a week and I have written about what the library means to me. But, over time something has changed in me.
It is the same reason that I barely watch TV, or even stream shows at my convenience. I won’t sit down and watch football unless I can fold laundry or shell walnuts or some other task. I definitely know it has driven my interest in podcasts and radio because I prefer to listen to a game rather than watch it.
I am pretty sure that my problem is that I don’t consider family time or relationship time as important as well as TV time. Before I am harshly judged, hear me out. I don’t think it has been a conscious decision but something that is uniquely me. To describe it, I would say that once I make a value judgement, I stop looking for supporting or contrary information i.e. my relationship.
This of course has consequences. Descriptors such as cold or aloof have sometimes been used. It also means that I have to try harder at not being some of those things which I largely fail, but I keep trying. For instance, I have a daily reminder to ‘say something nice’ or give a compliment. That causes me to stop and try to plan a moment to be complimentary.
Now that I have bared my soul a bit, the rest might make more sense. My long term goal is to reorganize the basement. I am probably over the half way point but I have hit a stall. While messing around with the turntable and stereo system, I set it up on a desk that I would like to get rid of. To get rid of it, I want to build a table for my office so the stereo system has a more permanent home.
Last week I was gone, next week I am going to be gone and now Christmas is coming and that is a manic time. I feel like I don’t have time to start a new project until the new year. This leaves me feeling restless and that kind of work is my therapy.
While travelling home last Friday, I finished my book with about half of the flight remaining. I watched most of Roadrunner: A film about Anthony Bourdain. One of his friends analysis was that when on the road, all he wanted to do was get home and when home, he wanted to get back on the road. He was restless because of the guilt of being gone and when home he had the wiring to do something else. Watching the documentary, I had no idea that we shared so many personality traits (besides those mentioned previously).
To make matters slightly worse, my idea of priority and my wife’s are different. She sees building a sofa table as something I want to do because I want it. Which I do not deny that I do, but I see it as a part of a much larger picture. She wants me to build a rack for the garage to more efficiently store kayaks. That I might point out is also another goal but in mind, that one will cost more money to do.
So, you can see my dilemma, between conflicting priorities and choppy schedules and my personality, I am pacing around with the free time I do have. I will do both and they will get done, I just need to get through this time. Part of what I have unsuccessfully tried to do while I am travelling is to plan for when I get back. I just haven’t been able to really effectively do that on business trips.
End Your Programming Routine: If it is not this project or this trip or this circumstance it is another. I need to continually balance my personality with the rest of life’s priorities and that is not easy. The best way that I have found to do it is to block small hours daily so I feel like I make progress on my projects while leaving time to cultivate relationships. I am going to try.
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