To Do List Check Off

I get so distracted these days. Too often I find myself at the end of the afternoon scratching my head over how I spent my day. Oh sure I have lists and even Alexa to remind me of what needs to be done and what I want to complete. But somehow I look up and the day has flown by. There is always tomorrow to check things off the list. What I have been good about it rising early, doing my Bible study and then writing here most mornings. But even waking up at 6:30 still has me not moving my bottom off the couch until 9:00 most mornings. Well I do get put to refill coffee for sure.

Although I rarely get as much done as I hope to, I am getting things checked off my to do list. Now it is time to update the list and I am having a dilemma. Do I keep the tasks that are completed so I feel accomplished or is that just clutter for the ones I have added to the list. It really comes down to an ego thing. The list is just for my eyes so why do I feel the need to keep them on the list after they are completed? Besides if I have accomplished something shouldn’t the reward be in the clean closet or the plants that are coming up in my garden? Of course that is the case. But I spend too much time wanted to be acknowledged for what I have done and how I have spent my time. Even if the only one keeping score is me.

I think this goes back to the fact that we live our lives measuring ourselves by what we do and how we bust our butts to accomplish. It is hard to recognize that spending time reading a book or listening to a podcast with my Kylie dog beside me is productive. It is time well spent. When I get to the late afternoon and tasks may not be completed but it has been a day spent with friends, family, or my Ronnie B. that is a good day.

Retirement is difficult when I try to feel accomplished in the busyness of life rather than relaxing into the new, less hectic pace of life. The whole world has had a preretirement season with the stay at home orders. Perhaps they will be more prepared to be content in it after this brief glimpse. I guess I will go type my new list minus the things I have already done but with the new tasks to come. Even I should not be keeping score on my time. It is perfectly okay to be a human being not always a human doing.

In Him,
Joyful
6-8-20