Truth: I was so tired from this past week and weekend that, when a friend asked me last night what I had done the previous day, I drew a complete blank that took me off guard. I had to stand there for a minute to find my memories somewhere inside the fog. Dude. Get more sleep.
The last couple days I’ve been thinking about the soundtrack, “I make the next best decision.” I did not come up with that one on my own. I’m borrowing it from Corinne Crabtree. What I love about it is that it keeps me really present in the moment. For example, I am tired, I am sitting on the couch and I ask, “What’s my next best decision in this moment?” I have lots of choices. I can: go lay down, drink a glass of water, do some stretches, write in my journal, pick up a guitar, call my mom and dad, whatever. It not only keeps me present, it prevents the non-living practice of frittering my time away into mindlessness at bay.
My next best decision honors the present moment as time worth living, space worth using to make life better be it with rest, thinking, activity, dreaming, connection or whatever. And who is the judge of the next best decision? I am. I’m not asking permission, I’m not testing my worth according to someone else’s standards. No. I am building truth and relationship with my own deeper desires and honoring them by listening to myself. That kind of trust building will pay off when it’s time to get to work. Laying a foundation of doing what I say I will do and what I really want by listening to my inner voice and my needs by meeting them and taking them seriously is all stuff that is needed when bigger fish need frying. Building something? You better know how to hear yourself think, notice what you need, respond to the moment with agency and choice and care yourself through growth.
So what’s your next best decision between now and lunch time? What would be the next best choice to set your afternoon up for peace, satisfaction and gratitude? Do that. It might be balancing the checkbook or making that phone call you’ve been putting off. It may be a jog or a journaling session or meeting up with a friend. Once you’ve accomplished that first next best decision, what would happen if you made the next next best decision after that and so on? Have a great day.