Does it feel like life is passing you by? Does every day fly by that before you know it the week is over? Is the month over before it even started for you? Are things not going the way you wanted or hoped it would be? If you’ve answered yes to these questions, then you need to stop, pay attention and listen.
Staying focused in life is as important as sleeping, eating and breathing. You need all of these things to stay alive. But when everything blurs together, life begins to spiral out of control. Nothing became more clearer to me than this when I recently started my new job.
For years, I have seen and watched thousands of people pass me by, in a hurry to get somewhere. It seemed like everyone that I watched was constantly in the “Hurry up, I need to get somewhere” mode (e.g. trucks driving faster than the posted speed limits on the highway, people rushing up and down the aisles in the grocery store, cars whizzing around the corners and not paying attention to the pedestrians in the walkway). Hold up…what’s the hurry? Exactly…
We’re all moving so fast…
Where’s the fire?
Now, I asked myself a question…am I just passing through life and not taking the time to see and experience it?
My answer seemed pretty clear, or so I thought. I’ve spent the better part of my life working, working and working. My life totally revolved around work. Sure, I took vacations, spent time with my husband, friends and family, but I fear that I missed out on so much more because for many years I’ve constantly been working, thinking about work and bringing work home with me. Was it because of my mid-west work ethic that I did this? Or, was it because of the various role models in my life and watching how hard they worked that I did this? I don’t know.
What I do know is that I have had a difficult time separating my work life from my personal life. I like to work and I take pride in my work. But my work is not all that I am…because I remember when I was younger and what I loved to do before I worked. I had so many other things that I did that were important to me, and really defined who I am today. But how do I go back to that place? I have my subconscious to thank for getting me there.
What’s been going on for the last year and maybe for much much longer, is that I have been unintentionally preparing for a major life shift. I’ve felt it coming. Why? Because I listened and paid attention. I had hoped and prayed for it to not happen because I thought I was comfortable. The reality is that I wasn’t because for the last year or more, I had been slowly, quietly, methodically and without much thought, refocusing so as to breathe new life into my life.
My life has become much clearer today, and I have not only my previous jobs to thank for that, but I also have my new job to thank as well. I love what I do now. Despite everything being fresh and new and having to learn so much, the techniques and lessons that I learned from my old jobs will help me to learn my new job more easily; thereby allowing me to get back to the other things that I love to do.
I am more than just my work, and I know that now. I feel more focused because I re-focused.
So what’s the lesson in all of this? It’s simple.When things don’t seem to be going the way they should be, and life is just passing you by, then you know what to do. Stop, take a deep breath, and refocus because there is a lot at stake…namely, your life.