Doing What I Like, Liking What I Do

Doing What I Like, Liking What I Do

Oh, the joy of doing! I love to do. The world is fair to bursting with fun stuff to do, and somedays I wish I could do all of it.

Back in the olden days, I slept very little, so I could do more. And then I was discussing my plans for my first trip to Hong Kong. I said, “I don’t think I will sleep at all: I’m afraid I will miss something!” My friend said, “Even if you are awake twenty-four hours a day, you will always miss something.”

I still don’t sleep much when I travel, but I got it.

I have amazing powers, super powers. You do, too. Or at least we all have the potential for amazing super powers. The power of choice. The power of creativity. The power of relaxation. The power of trust, just to name a few. These are so worth cultivating. When you have control over these, not only will your own life change, but you will have a wonderful impact on the people around you. Hot dog!

One of my favorite super powers is the power of judgment. I’m not talking about negative emotional judgment, you know, the one that looks at that person over there with scorn. I’m talking about positive emotional judgment.

Exercising my positive emotional judgment grants me freedom. And I love feeling free. Warren Buffet and I both have the same number of hours in a day. Mother Teresa did, too. Some days I am thrilled to spend them lazing about reading and petting cats for hours. But I also have things to do.

When I am at my Clark Kent job, I do a lot of reframing to make my tasks enjoyable. Sometimes I look at them as meditations. Sometimes I think of them as service work. Somedays I’m just bored to numbness. Yeah, still working on it.

Then I have the not-at-work time, with time I get to decide about. Of the three million things I could right now, what will I derive the most satisfaction from? I’ve spent time on what I am best at, where my gifts lay, which is why I can write to you every day. The hour or so I spend each day to write this is a valuable and worthwhile use of my time.

Playing solitaire on my phone isn’t so much. Watching TV, also not very worthwhile. Like candy bars for the spirit, fun at the time, maybe not so much in the long term.

In comes my super power of positive emotional judgment. If I feel tired everyday, a good judgment is to go to bed a bit earlier. If I feel better when I practice my qigong daily, a good judgment is to practice every day. If I feel worse when I eat a lot of sugar, a good judgment is to enjoy a different snack. If spending time with someone leaves me feeling angry and defensive, a good judgment is to spend time with someone else.

Practicing my positive emotional judgment on a regular basis keeps it all juiced up and ready to go for when I need to make bigger decisions. I will either be exercising my positive emotional judgment or my negative emotional judgment, so even just deciding which way I wanna go will help.

Over and over, the quality of our lives depend on the thousand tiny choices we make each day.

How have I changed from choosing poorly to choosing well?

(c) Pam Guthrie 2013 all rights reserved 09072013