As a mom working from home, my days start before dawn and end well after the sun goes down. I wear so many hats that sometimes I don’t even know which one I have on at any given moment. Most of the time, it’s a few. Wife. Mom. Translator. Cook. Household Manager. Project Manager. Business and Personal Finance Manager. Scheduler. Mediator. Instructor. Self-Promoter (that one is the hardest…). The list never seems to end.
It’s truly challenging to focus on any one task when my mind is in a million places all at the same time. The distractions are endless. (Someone at the door, the phone ringing with an emergency at my daughter’s school, the dog barking at some invisible threat…) The demands are draining (everything needs to be done yesterday). Time just FLIES (Wait, it’s what time???). And, yet, at the end of the day, what do I have to show for it? Perhaps a few things checked off my list, but mainly just tasks shifted to yet another day because I just couldn’t get to it all today. There’s always tomorrow, right?
Most days, I focus on what I absolutely need to get done right now, today. I’ll worry about the rest tomorrow. But, I would really like to slow down and enjoy my days. I’m reminded of the old adages: “Life is too short.” “Enjoy today and be grateful.” And, countless other inspirational yet not quite attainable messages. But, frankly, I’m so exhausted that by the time I do focus on the present, I’m already thinking about tomorrow, or Friday, or next month, and what I need to do now in order to get ready for then. How do we shut our brains off and just focus? And, I mean REALLY focus? I don’t know.
I’m reminded of a quote that my husband tries to live by: “Wherever you are, be all there.” (Jim Elliot) Maybe, just maybe I can find a way to just focus and be.
Tomorrow.
Evans Translations 