Someone I know shared that they came back from a meditation retreat excited about the meaningful possibilities they had envisioned on the retreat—new projects, opportunities, and important stuff they wanted to create. It’s so incredible to be excited about meaningful possibilities!
And then they got home, and there were piles of tasks, emails, and messages waiting for them. The urgency of those piles distracted them from their better intentions.
The urgency of piles throws off all of our best-laid plans.
We have to deal with piles all the time: Tasks piling up on our to-do lists
Emails and messages piling up in our inboxes
Papers piling up on our desks and documents piling up on our computer desktops
Tabs piling up in the browser
Chores and errands piling up, phone calls needing to be made, and things needing to be fixed or cleaned
Clutter piling up all over our homes These piles of tasks, messages, errands, and chores feel urgent. We can’t seem to ignore them in favor of what’s most important. Piles seem to represent neglected obligations. They come with an anxiety that makes us want to fix them over whatever else is calling for our attention….