I woke very early today feeling anxious about one main thing on the 'to do' list. After eating breakfast, I decided that today I would start attending to that 'to do' list item. By the end of the afternoon, roughly half of the steps had been completed. It took visits to two offices on Main Street. While waiting for processing at one stop, I wandered through a couple of other stores to see what was new. I parked at the far end of Main and walked to the other end to get to the government office and then stopped at other businesses along the walk back to the car. The sun was glorious again today, but with much less wind than yesterday. It felt cold, but not as biting as it had been. We will get more wind and cold in the next few days. I have to remind myself that it is January and more winter will arrive before seasons change again.
I had a great virtual visit with a friend that helped us both with the frustrations we've each faced of late. We talked about ways to manage the growing number of items on the many 'to do' lists. Each item tends to come with its own list of steps. For example, doing laundry involves many steps -- sorting, washing, drying, hanging, folding and such. Each step requires several small decisions. These micro-decisions may seem almost invisible to us, yet the brain is making those choices constantly. These decisions lead to 'decision fatigue' which can leave us unable to address larger decisions. I've often thought of a 'to do' list as a reminder of things that need to be done. Since retirement I've begun to see these as things that control my actions rather than assist them. The lists tend to ignore the many things we do daily to keep body and soul together -- getting dressed, bathing, cooking and eating. Somedays anxiety interferes with making decisions beyond the daily activities.. It appears that the focus on the 'to do' list invalidates many of the other tasks we do and might explain why some items seems so overwhelming -- they have so many steps.
The selection today comes from a grouping of pieces called "The Seasonings". The composer passed away this week. If you have 20 minutes, you should look up the full group of movements and give it a listen. Keep safe. Enjoy!
Seasonings "To curry favor" -- PDQ Bach -- Peter Scheckele
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