Choose Your Own Adventure

I cannot do it all.

It is the phrase that keeps turning in my head.

I fight it.  I want to say, I CAN do it all.  If I just work harder, sleep less, love more, be more, do more...

Logically it is not possible to do it all.  We all know this...we just don't know it.

Spiritually it is akin to doing God's work, to trying to be the divine.

Accepting I can't do it all (and bringing it back down to a manageable level to comprehend), I consider the stories the kids are sharing, the dog barking at the back door to be let out, the dishes in the sink, the donation letter on the counter waiting to be paid or recycled, the painting drying downstairs, the running shoes in the closet, the clock switching to the next minute.

I cannot do it all.

I must choose.

I GET to choose.

And therein lies the peace and freedom.

Accepting that I cannot do it all, be it all, practicing not even craving it all.

Deeply living in gratitude that I get to choose.

Within it all, I get to choose how I experience it.  Not necessarily what, but how.  If I cannot choose it all, I choose peace, not stress.  

Every moment, I choose again.  Peace or stress.

Silence or noise.

Gratitude or resentment.

Cereal or toast.

Choice after choice we navigate our lives.  The world changes.  That is not my choice.  My choice, my freedom, is how I change.  How I choose to experience this ever-changing life.

Yes, the bills will still be due.  Deadlines will come and go.  Inevitably, the kids will need something the second the timer goes off on the oven and the dog pees on the carpet.  

You and I will need to make our choices.  Paint or clean?  Facebook or read?  Judge my choices or not?  Work or quit?  Be right or be kind?  White shirt or black?  Each choice has its consequences.

But the fun of life, the juice of life, that miraculous spirit that brings a smile to those-in-the-know is the knowledge that we can't do it all, we don't have to do it all, and that we get to choose which part of all we experience.

So next time you feel stressed or overwhelmed, when everything seems to be happening at once...take a deep breath.  Find that space within you.  Remember that not only do you have to choose, you GET to choose.  

Lucky us.

Namaste.

p.s. Join us in choosing mindfulness through the Wild Elephant Project starting on January 9th.  Learn more HERE.