action because you believe
you have to.
We all mostly muddle
through days of uninspired
action because we have
come to limit ourselves to
believe a passion or a true
calling refers strictly to a
much larger concept, some
“big picture” thing we want
to do with the whole of our
lives, and moved away from
the understanding that it
can include the seemingly
mundane, every day, small
picture things, like chores,
card writing, phone calls,
everyday work tasks, a trip
to the bank or organizing a
junk drawer.
But haven’t you noticed
there are just times where
you want to get something
done right now, like the
dishes, cleaning out a closet,
finally getting around to
some work report or doing
some accounting, and it is
just so satisfying when you
do it? And sometimes, you
really just don’t want to do
something but you have
convinced yourself the sky
will fall if you don’t do it, so
you toil and strain to make it
happen but end up not really
getting anything done and
the task drags on for days
and weeks anyway?
Because we spend so
much doing things we don’t
want to do, we have come
to block ourselves off from
our natural inspiration
and enjoyment of doing
everyday things that we
would generally otherwise
take at least some modicum
of pleasure in, and that
would positively affect the
way we feel and how we live
our lives.
So recently, when I am
too tired or uninspired to do
something, I don’t do it, even
if I think I “should” because I
know that if I try, my energy
will not be in the right place
and the task will take longer
than it should, have more
problems than it should, be
less successful than it should
and I’ll generally lack any
good feeling toward the
endeavour whatsoever. But, if
I wait until I feel inspired to
do it, it’ll take seemingly no
time at all, everything will
flow smoothly and success
will seem assured, or I’ll be
in a good enough place that I
won’t particularly care about
the outcome.
In the splitting of
moments, one from the
other, in manipulating that
space between thought and
action, I’ve dipped my toe
into the time reserved for
inspired action, and by doing
so, I’ve created more time for
myself and take more delight
in how I spend my time. I
highly recommend giving it
a try, at the very least, you’ll
get more guilt-free sleep and
can put off organizing your
sock drawer for another day.
Enjoy!
— when you feel inspired to—
Queen of Spades
inspadesmag.com • 011