BUILD THE WALL

BUILD THE WALL

Aug 02, 2022

When we prioritize our moments, our days, our weeks, our months, our years, our lives... what's going to come first? Is it going to be the all might dollar? Is it going to be some faux status we're chasing at our jobs? Is it going to be our creative endeavors? Is it going to be our family and friends? Is it going to be our fitness and overall health? What needs to get done in comparison to what should we get done? What do we want from this life? What can our mental capacity handle before we've burned the candle at both ends? What's going to put a smile on my soul? How much guilt is real versus noise?

Good thing in school they taught us to put everything down in a list. Should we just make a Venn Diagram of our lives? That'll give us ALL the answers. Check the table of elements, it'll tell me how I get through the day and feel like I accomplished everything. Hot Cross Buns has the secrets to life hidden in between the notes. Now, write me a 5 paragraph essay on how this should all work.

They didn't teach us how to learn or how to manage our time on this planet, but only managed it all for us. We were taught like robots. Teachers obviously do their best and are probably top 5 underpaid professions (they literally take care of our kids for 50% of their waking hours), but at no point can you take the "how to manage your life" or "how to make decisions that will coincide with your moral compass" class. Then our parents don't always have the time or energy to be patient with a child and guide them day in and day out. Again, they do their best they can! And if the kid was a little shit like myself, it would take hearing the same lesson 40 times before he/she/they/them (UGH) understood a fraction of it.

It becomes our job to figure this out along the way and thankfully (you'll never hear me say this again) we have many social media platforms that we can bounce ideas off each other. After talking to friends and listening to many versions of success through books, podcasts, interviews... I've found that there's not just ONE thing that works for everyone. Welcome to the party, I know. There are specific things like prioritizing sleep (working on it) that helps everyone. But there's not one set of habits for everyone. Our lives are so radically different that my morning routine wouldn't work for the person who's working an overnight or has to get up at 4am to be somewhere. But a couple years from now, my schedule could change and it won't even work for me anymore.

This is the point I'm getting at. How do we learn to adjust and keep everything intact? Without trial and error, there's no solid answer. One thing I haven't started to implement, but want to, is a healthy nighttime routine. When your energy is so low and the day has been nothing but an uphill battle, just getting into the bed can be the task of the century. BUT, priorities, right? Knowing that it's universally important to every human, turning off the screens an hour before bed, not eating within 3 hours of sleep, and eliminating ALL light pollution from the bedroom should be priority numero uno, so that tomorrow isn't an uphill battle. The rejections roll off your shoulders, the problem solving abilities sky rocket, and getting your physical activity is a delight instead of a chore.

Maybe we should structure out each and every day so that I have time for learning new things, reading books, writing/painting/creating, playing with my kids, taking care of my home, getting all my tasks from work in order, exercising, spending quality time with my significant other, keeping my social media game up, getting a degree in something new, prioritizing my morning, prioritizing my night, stretching, having a side hustle, making sure to only eat kale and simultaneously go on the carnivore diet, fast for 3 days a month, go for long walks, get 8 hours of sleep, take an afternoon nap, drink 5 cups of coffee a day and never drink coffee, water your plants, water your pets, water yourself, take a cold shower, get a cold plunge, call a friend you haven't spoken to in years, meet new people, meditate an hour a day, never play video games, play video games to increase mental aptitude, take yoga, write a book, make a movie, take a vacation, work from a vacation, go hiking, go camping, start filming a YouTube series and be more active with your blog.....................

We have to continue to be grateful for what we accomplish and do our best in each moment. Let the moments stack together like a brick on a wall. The wall will come if we continue to stack them the best we can. Some will not be perfect and that's O-KAY. Some will be better than others, but that's just how it happens. Continue to stack as best you can, remind yourself that the wall will come. Perhaps today you need a break from stacking bricks and that's okay too. Just know that you have to come back tomorrow. It's okay to miss a day, but to miss 2 days is to create a new pattern and it will only be more difficult to come back to stacking bricks. Maybe today you only stack 10 bricks and not the usual 20 or 30 that you do on a good day. All that matters is that you keep the streak alive. Keep the habit, especially if you enjoy the process. There will be a wall but you have to trust the process. You have to listen to the artist and not the critic. Do what you can, something will most likely try to pull you away from your brick-stacking. There are only 24 hours in a day and we should be sleeping at least 8 of those hours. Then the rest of them it's up to you to prioritize them, not some social media guru or some Dr. that's never met you. You have to listen to your soul, maaaaaaaaaan. For realsies.

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When we look forward on the deathbed (we're all headed to the same spot) what will you have contributed to this world that you're most happy about?

Remember... you'll never see a hearse with a trailer hitch. (One of my favorite songs, please listen).

Also, I love coffee. Please feel free to hook me up with a cold brew.

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