Walking on Sunshine & Lay Down ’til the Guilt Passes

I think you need to hear this.
In fact, I am pretty darn sure you do.
How do I know this?  Because you are  human  and come equipped with dreams.
And dreams take time–more time than it seems like we may have.
As you know, along with those dreams,  there’s also a whole dance of life happening too. One that includes things like grocery shopping, house cleaning, volunteering, homework, car pools and the like—all  that have been assigned to you in addition to the big dreams.   When you realize you aren’t getting it all done (dreams and reality)….well, it’s easy to become convinced that you are somehow missing some genetic coding for wonder woman (or man) or something.
This comes up frequently in conversation.  Folks feeling like they may just be flawed because they aren’t getting it all done.
People often ask me of me how I get so much done (especially with the likes of Eddie dogging me all day).
I do, like you, have a full plate.  My days are full of things like painting, writing, blogging, taking photos, working online, Facebook, Pinterest, answering emails, paying bills, workshop planning, teaching, ordering supplies, etc.  And that’s only the art side of life.  I actually do have a personal life and family and doctors appointments and great nieces having birthday parties and trips to the vet for fur bearing peeps.
Word on the street has it that I work non-stop.
Never sleeping.
Probably not even taking time to go to the bathroom or eat (which could actually work now that I think about it.  Not doing one could cancel out the other until….hmmm, food for thought 😉 )
How do I do it???  How do I do it all??
Today’s text question from my sis Rhonda actually got me thinking on this.
Yes, the same Rhonda who texted me while I was in Florida in January with an invitation of “bite me”.
(We are now back on speaking terms, btw).
After a long hiatus, Rhonda is in the midst of getting her singing, songwriting self back in the game.  She has big plans.

She is running into the same dilemma that plagues all of us—to plow away at our passion OR waste precious time putting on clothes and make-up  😉

I know.
What did we do before the days of texting  🙂 ?
Seriously, you can place anything in that guilt question.  Any list of things left undone–fixing supper, cleaning house, making sure we have thoughtful birthday presents for family members, getting cards out for holidays, taking the dog for a long walk, having clothes that are ironed, etc, etc.  All the things that are normal and that we assume everyone around us is doing.  The idea that we can be like June Cleaver and answer our door at a moment’s notice and offer someone a slice of freshly baked peach pie while seating them in our immaculate kitchen (while simultaneously showing them our latest paintings and new best selling book hot off the presses).
Hear me now.
AIN’T.
GONNA.
HAPPEN.
EVER.
Not when you are pursuing your passion full speed ahead.  It is simply and profoundly not how it works.  You are not going to do it all.  You will live in a messy house, have clothes that you picked up off the floor, inspected for cat hair, and then donned to run out the door at the last minute for an appointment that you have known about for months and then get there just in the nick of time.  You will have long lists of things you are going to do that will eventually become lists of things that you didn’t do—they will have been pre-empted by your life of passion doing and pursuing the thing you love.
Which brings me to the next text from Sis Rhonda:

You must prioritize.

Which loosely interpreted means….a heck of a whole lot of things ARE NOT GOING TO GET DONE.
There are enough hours in the day for your dreams.
There are enough hours in the day for a perfect house and hair free clothing.
There are not enough hours in the days for dreams AND perfect homes and hair free clothing–
ESPECIALLY when you are  getting your dreams out of your head and into real action.
I  remember a conversation I had with my daughter Desiree about 4 years ago.

Desiree

 I was lamenting to her on the phone how EVERYTHING in my house and life was pressing in around me.  Stuffed, cluttered, undone, needing attention and there was still so much I needed to do for my art.  She pointed out (thank goodness) that J.K. Rowling was rumored to have said that she “lived in complete rubbish” while writing the first Harry Potter book.  It was how the work got done and what mattered was this….
THE IMPORTANT WORK DID GET DONE
And the rest of it didn’t really matter so much after all.
It never goes away (that worried little voice that says you should have had the perfect meringue on that pie if only you had remember to work with chilled beaters (or whatever), the one that chides you for not planning ahead to have the carpet cleaned and furniture de-haired because the family get together is at YOUR house this year.)
I wish I could tell you otherwise but I would be lying.
I can tell you this though.

Every time you pick yourself and choose your dreams, you are doing what you were born to do and the universe smiles back at you.

And you’ll find that your family arrives with their own sticky roller for pet hair removal and something gets spilled on the carpet that didn’t get cleaned—AND THEN YOU GET IT….
The important things DID GET DONE
and that’s what REALLY matters!
On the way to living your life’s purpose, you have to get comfortable with the notion of leaving some things undone—that’s how it works.  You are not doing something wrong.  You are not stupid, lazy, ineffective, or making bad choices.  You are choosing to do the things that will matter in the end.
Anyone, anywhere, who ever achieved anything  left a long trail of things undone.
Period.
We just don’t talk about it.
We remember them for what they did, not what they didn’t…do.
Dying with your song still in you is not a choice.  Sing and let the rest fall away.
Love yourself.
Love the vision you have been given.
Love the fact that you can’t do it all 🙂
And if all else fails….
LAY DOWN UNTIL THE GUILT  PASSES 
Preferably in your PJ’s.

“Walking on Sunshine”
9 x 12in oil on museum quality panel

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This post was originally published on 03/19/2014.
I am immersed in a BIG project that needs my full attention and thought it was a good time to rerun some of the most read posts on this blog.
Keep sending those good thoughts and love my way—they are helping me so much to infuse my best on what I am working on!!!
Hugs!