Not much easier to kill than some momentum when you're striking out on your own. It's hard to stay upbeat, enthusiastic, positive, motivated. Trying to stay focused on where we are oriented in the Jewish calendar and tune into the reality that we are in the run-up to the start of the year can be easily lost in the static and noise of life.
Every day brings us a myriad of challenges, demands, tasks, and opportunities. Sometimes we do in fact have to set aside our plan because it is just no feasible. Yesterday, for example, the arrival of our house guest who occupied the office space where my computer sits made it impossible for me to get to my computer to put some thoughts down. That and all the cooking and preparing for Shabbat was also a distraction, because I could have certainly stopped earlier in the day before the guest arrived and taken a few minutes, alone, to myself to complete this task.
For me, that's just it. All to often the finding the few minutes or more of time to do what I have deemed important to or for me just gets put off and put off and put off in favor of things that meet the needs of others. Usually the "others" are those smaller people who live in my house and take the ringing of my phone as a sign that they MUST talk to me IMMEDIATELY! On the flip side, however, trying a new recipe or doing some household organizing I have been meaning to do is also enjoyable for me. Those things, though, are not just for me, they benefit others as well.
So that's just the point here, when things slide that are important primarily for the individual, it's easy to let them become less important. And then once they are lost and gone we might realize how much we liked/wanted/needed them in our lives. But they are gone. And only the most shiny of objects set to the side will still be just as worthy when picked up a second time. I find that most projects or efforts I leave off to the side and then lose track of are not worth picking back up. I do find that I have to use the lost momentum as a learning tool to help me maintain my momentum a bit longer the next time in the hopes that continued efforts will eventually prove fruitful in a sustained manner.
Every day brings us a myriad of challenges, demands, tasks, and opportunities. Sometimes we do in fact have to set aside our plan because it is just no feasible. Yesterday, for example, the arrival of our house guest who occupied the office space where my computer sits made it impossible for me to get to my computer to put some thoughts down. That and all the cooking and preparing for Shabbat was also a distraction, because I could have certainly stopped earlier in the day before the guest arrived and taken a few minutes, alone, to myself to complete this task.
For me, that's just it. All to often the finding the few minutes or more of time to do what I have deemed important to or for me just gets put off and put off and put off in favor of things that meet the needs of others. Usually the "others" are those smaller people who live in my house and take the ringing of my phone as a sign that they MUST talk to me IMMEDIATELY! On the flip side, however, trying a new recipe or doing some household organizing I have been meaning to do is also enjoyable for me. Those things, though, are not just for me, they benefit others as well.
So that's just the point here, when things slide that are important primarily for the individual, it's easy to let them become less important. And then once they are lost and gone we might realize how much we liked/wanted/needed them in our lives. But they are gone. And only the most shiny of objects set to the side will still be just as worthy when picked up a second time. I find that most projects or efforts I leave off to the side and then lose track of are not worth picking back up. I do find that I have to use the lost momentum as a learning tool to help me maintain my momentum a bit longer the next time in the hopes that continued efforts will eventually prove fruitful in a sustained manner.
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