#437 Cut yourself some slack

Which conclusions did I draw from past experiences?

Have I overreacted to petty events, and ignored beautiful moments?

Have I deleted memories? Maybe invented some?

Have I built stories based on generalizations?

Most importantly: how does the past I still feel affect my actions today?

And if I know a lot of it was my own interpretation… could I change my past, or at least what it means to me?

Would that set me free?

I was undoubtedly in a pensive mood when writing this.

I guess, given the daily letters I send you, you might conclude I’m in a pensive mood every day.

And you wouldn’t be wrong.

But pensive moods can be useful – when they’re coupled with conclusions and insights. Maybe even with Tiny Trust Builders.

And if any of these questions help you re-interpret your past and set you free, too, I’ll be a happy man.

A wistful win-win.

We all want to avoid doing things that make us miserable.

Yet avoiding them often takes the shape of prioritizing them.

“I’ll do this unpleasant thing first so that I can get to the fun stuff.”

Unfortunately, it seems to be a rule that the more unpleasant tasks you cross off your to-do list, the more unpleasant tasks appear on your to-do list.

Sometimes it makes sense to do the essential things first, even if that means you keep the unpleasant things on your to-do list.

This is not a free pass to avoid unpleasant things and only do something you like.

It’s about doing the things that matter, regardless of whether they’re pleasant.

It’s about coming to terms with the fact that you’ll probably always drown in chores and busy work to do, then doing the important stuff anyway.

Journaling question of the day:

Where are you prioritizing and attracting things that make you miserable instead of doing the work that matters?