Pacing And Learning To Say "No"

Somehow, and I am not quite certain exactly how and when this happened, but somehow life has gotten completely away from me this past couple of weeks.

Ever feel like you are treading water like crazy and the waves are still crashing over you because you cannot paddle any faster?

There is so much to do, so many things on the to do list, and so much more that feels like it is piling up day after day.  But no matter how much headway is made, it is never quite enough.  Or, at least, it sure feels that way today, even if actual progress may be occurring and I'm just not seeing it through the Eeyore haze that is taking hold at the moment.

The thing is, there will always be more dishes, more laundry, more meals, more lesson plans, more...of pretty much everything.  Won't there?

That's really life in a nutshell:  cresting the next wave as you head toward another one looming on the horizon.

But finding a way to enjoy the swim in between?  To find some way to laugh at the absurdity of the ever-present next new thing clamoring for attention and effort?  That smile at whatever else gets in your path, that ability to turn lemons into lemonade is how we survive the day to day, right?


What I have learned about myself after multiple days of running, running, running, is this:  I cannot push myself past a certain point of exhaustion and effort any longer and not pay a price for it.  That's just the truth of it.  So I have to be better going forward about pacing myself so that I don't overdo it all at once, but instead accomplish things in smaller bites -- it takes a little more time, yet it is still effective in the long run if planned a little better.

Anyone who tells you that you can have it all, that you can do it all, that you can be everything to everyone around you at all times?  They are either lying to you or they are that crazy sort of person who only needs 3 hours of sleep a night -- or they have a ton of staff who do it for them.

Finding a saner path toward getting things done the right way without sacrificing my health and sanity is a tall order these days.  But I am committed to figuring out some better pacing...for all of our sakes.

Heaven help me, but I am horrible about compulsively never, ever being able to says the magic word:  "no."

Anyone else have that horrible, people pleasing chromosomal defect, too, where someone asks you to do something and you immediately volunteer to do ten more things along with it and then stay to help clean up afterward?   My husband jokes that I'll offer to clean up after my funeral if given the opportunity and I swear he is right.

But the only way to build a muscle is to exercise it.  So I'm going to give "no" a chance, and see if a little more sanity begins to trickle into our day to day frenzy.

How do you manage this issue in your own family?  If you have conquered your compulsive people-pleasing insanity, please share how you've done it in the comments.  I, for one, would love to hear how you've done it!

(Photo via ashley rose,.)