Hello

Good "late" morning.

I decided to force a slow-roll morning ahead of company this weekend. 

Had to do it by working my butt off yesterday to clear tasks for today, but I did it. 

I also decided a no-go on the Friday morning coffee meeting even though I'm out of town next week because it required an early workout to get ready in time.

All in the name of what-do-I-REALLY need today? 

This.

I needed no alarm. 

No rush to get to a workout (thank you, Peloton). 

No rush to get into the garden (did it yesterday).

No rush to get to a meeting.

Quiet time ahead of a social weekend.

Maybe a bit of a push to get my dog walked (which I'll do as soon as I finish here) because it's sunny, humid, and temps are climbing. Dang.

It came at a sacrifice. No hike today. No time with friends this morning. No favor for another friend. 

I'm working on managing my schedule differently. I realize I need more SPACE for the unexpected -- good and bad so these kind of things don't eat up quiet time or make the day too rushed. 

I've been scheduling for things I like -- hiking, gardening, etc. but that's not enough, not the only kind of space I need because that's the first thing to get sacrificed when life add-ons come up.

This means harder CHOICES. I'll have to say no to things I actually want to do in the name of SANITY lol. I'll also need to choose what to simplify. 

I like this.

And it brings up the idea of focus rather than scattered. 

Am I spread too thin? 

Something I'm overthinking hah. 

I don't want all my eggs in one basket, but I also want to enjoy my choices rather than half-assing things. 

I think there's a way. I think it involves having time to be present in what I'm doing. That's the experiment now. 

September has a lot on the calendar already, but I'm going to be VERY intentional about what else I add and how I add it. Easy only. Low effort only. Space for things that will inevitably come up.

We have the final outdoor concert for the summer in a few weeks. I'm not organizing any big night this time. Not pulling in a big group. I'm just going to enjoy the concert with some neighbors. Easy.

There's a 5K race that I did with bookclub last year (I've run it for a number of years). I sent out information on it when registration opened and heard nothing back. That's all I'm doing. I'm not organizing anything, reminding anyone. I'll see my friend there and that's all. Simple. 

Football opening Sunday with the family. BBQ takeout from the place up the street. I'm not cooking.

Simplifying things like this leaves space to give back to myself. Choices about where to put my effort and energy and time. 

Group activities are nice and focusing on community means a lot to me, but solo is also nice. I think I need to flip the time switch on solo vs group. Less group. More solo. When I organize group activities, I can focus fully and give them the attention and effort and desire they deserve without feeling resentful. 

Had I implemented this early, today didn't need to be a complete compromise. I could've had the week I intended. 

Let's see how it goes. 

BTW, summer of ease and unbothered is ending and that did NOT go well (as you know). But, I noticed and maybe learned a bit to make changes. 

I'll leave you with this from the neighborhood LFL. 

Have a good day and start to the weekend. 

I hope you have all the space and quiet you need. 

Later gators.