Yes and No....

So it has been awhile since I have blogged.  Is there a really good reason?  Nope.  I have had a blog topic floating up around in my head for a few weeks so really no excuses exist.  It was a poke from a fellow team member (thanks Mr. Dyble) that shoved me into my chair at the computer....

It is that point in the year where we spend time evaluating how things are going.  Really, we should be doing this all the time but December always seems to naturally bring it out.  Add to that the need to sit down and put down goals for the next year and it is the perfect recipe for some self evaluation. 

In many ways I have not had a great year.  My numbers overall are horrible.  My consistency has been non-existent.  I did reach the goal of receiving my second degree brown belt (earlier than anticipated) but as far as actual countable, visible kung fu I feel like my year fell off right after that.

Why?  It simply has to do with simple math and a couple simple words.  Each and every one of us has a limited number of minutes in each day.  It is our job to choose how we spend them.  We have the opportunity to say yes and no in each moment as to how we spend them.  Some moments feel like they are decided for us but ultimately, we are basically in control of at least our perspective and our attitude.

I said a big yes back in June.  It has been a life changing yes.  This yes was a good decision.  This yes has impacted nearly every moment since I said it.  Yet, with the simple math of time each yes has some corresponding no's.  Yes, I chose to homeschool my daughter.  I do not feel like I said no to any of my goals that I laid out before making this decision.  Yet, the simple math has lead to many no's in my days.   My time is far more limited than I anticipated.  I have yet to establish new routines that will make adding some of the other things back in sustainable.  I did not blatantly say no to anything yet by not saying yes and acting on it right away, it became a no.

The challenge that I am finding laid out before me is how to better balance it all.  I have not taken anything off my plate that existed before my big yes.  I was a busy person before without a lot of extra space in my days.  I have worked at learning to say no to new things which is really hard for me.  I will likely need to continue to look for some deliberate no's to say so that there are less inadvertent no's in my life.  Really it boils down to being mindful of the consequences of my choices in each moment.  Each yes I say in each moment, means I am saying no to something else.  It is these no's that I need to keep an eye on.  I have the power to choose.