vacation lesson: Wants, not Do's

So far this morning I've read Five Super-Foods You Should Eat Every Day and Six Ways to Become a Creature of New Habits, and downloaded one new app (Lift) to help make new patterns stick.  And it's only 5:15 am.  

Clearly, vacation-thoughts are lingering. 

On the first leg of our long, long flight home on Saturday, I made a list (naturally) of Things I Want.

This is so different from my usual kind of list -- To Do's -- and was entirely an expression of what my recent vacation had brought up for me: a desire to be fit and strong, to spend more time with animals, and to help my little family with their French studies. A little all over the map but all completely connected to what makes me feel good and truly happy.

Wants are so much more fun than Do's!

I don't know: it's hard for me to spend time in France and not notice how they have quality of life down to a T. Don't get me started on the two-hour lunch break.  It's so hard for me, at first, to dial down my go-go-go American need for a quick check in a restaurant, for stores to be open at 1pm, for Sundays not to be so entirely shut down.

Oh, but I needed that. Big time.

The pace I generally maintain is a little insane, and still I feel, a lot, like my life is getting away from me. Like I'm running my ass off to catch up and still getting nowhere.

And meanwhile, the clock is ticking.

So yeah, the key lesson for me from this trip (and boy, there were many, many lessons) is that I need to slow my shit down -- work more slowly, more deliberately; make time for the things that make me truly happy; take care of my physical form.

The shift from Do's to Wants is a crucial one for me right now. I think it's actually going to save me a lot of grief, help move me forward to an even happier, more fulfilled life. 

Duh: if I know what I Want, first and foremost, if I begin and stay focussed there, then the Do will follow.

Starting from Do, though, doesn't necessarily get me to Want -- most of the time, it just leads to more Do. Ew, and I know what that feels like.

Thanks, Francypants. I needed that reminder. And Lift: looking forward to sticking with it. ;>