- Toss out the unloved and unused
- Don’t finish
- Put up a temporary wall
- Say “I don’t know”
- Loosen your grip
- Don’t tell anyone where you’re going
- Let them talk
- Clear the decks
- Hire help
- Excuse yourself and leave
- Expand your view
- Put down the sword
- Go where you can be anonymous
- Wing it
- Don’t equate alone with lonely
- Eat less
- Say “Oh, never mind”
- Let go of your secrets
- Sit alone in a small boat
- Remove whatever’s not you
- Lock the door
- Rearrange the pieces
- Expand your territory
- Uncommit
- Admit that help is needed
- Move as though your joints are oiled
- Sequester the shoulds
- Go where no one will think to look
- Open your arms
- Say “No”
- Look up
- Loosen whatever constricts
- Remove distractions
- Rebel
- Shrug and leave it at that
- Close your mouth
- Take a wellness day off
- Don’t start
- Defend your claim
- Let someone else be right
- Act without approval
Related reading: Giving Up Housework, 20 Ways to Make a Decision, Pep Talk | Wing It
Flickr photo: puertas abiertas, by drusbi
8 Comments
these are MARVELOUS!
Am going to print them out, hang them up prominently on bulletin boards around my complex, at the library, at the store: stealth gonzo awareness raising for us all. He**, I may even stand on a corner and hand them out.
The last one reminds me of one of my favorite quotes: T. Roosevelt: it is often easier to obtain forgiveness than permission.
OTOH perhaps I should ignore that advice and ask: Grace, you wouldn’t mind if I did that, would you?
People who read this blog sometimes ask me, “Who’s that Jo? She’s great. She always comments and actually has things to say.” So, even if yours is the only comment that appears with a post, others are reading and noticing and enjoying you as much as I do.
Of course I don’t mind if you put the list up around (“gonzo awareness raising” is priceless) — maybe with a link to the site in case someone who could use what Highly Sensitive Power offers could find us here. Thank you.
You make me laugh, Jo. Thanks for that, too.
Aw shucks. Thank you (and you and you) for the kind words . . . and of course a link – who could be out there that needs this blog and not even know it until “zap!” there it is!
I love this post!! of course life gets overwhelming but how wonderful to see so many ways to wipe the slate of our over-stuffed minds clean to make room for what we want in our life.
Thanks, Lara.
And thanks for your website – My Story Writer at http://www.mywritingsoftware.com/ – and all it’s great tools and tips about writing and creativity and time management. I’m looking forward to digging in.
Wow! Great post. I especially love #20 Remove whatever’s not you. So often the inauthentic stuff just cramps our lives. I would love to link this at my Writer’s Digest Blog if you don’t mind?
Thank you!
“Close your mouth” and “Let someone else be right”…both extremely difficult for me but perfect thoughts to have on hand as I head into two Board meeting/Annual planning sessions next week. Of course, both organizations existed before I joined the Board and will continue long after I leave. I don’t need to run the whole world, do I???
Grace, thanks for the reality check. I can’t continue to complain about not having time to myself if I keep thinking I am the only person who can fix all the problems.
As ever, Andrea, you make me laugh along with you. Ain’t it the truth that we try so often to have it both ways. Well, I have zero doubts that you could shape up the world to shiny greatness (and I still want you for my CEO), but that all counts for nothing if you’re a hollow shell.
This is one of my favourite sayings (which my husband steadfastly refuses to have tatooed onto his forehead to make it handy when I need it): A closed mouth gathers no feet.