I’ve recently been tick-tick-ticking things off the to-do list. They’re all little line items in my day, and I’ve felt the energy, alignment and motivation to complete one after another, and another, and on.
And at the same time, they’re not these little, equal-weight things, really. Some are bits of closure that relate to choices I’ve felt unsure about for a while, for which it took time for clarity to arrive at decision. Some are the final pieces of action items related to a longer arc of a life choice that began unfurling in the back of my mind or corner of my heart months ago, even years ago.
It took a while to get here, whew! It’s all right on time—we’re always right on time—and, at the same time, there was a lot of searching, patience, conversation, reflection, change and courage involved in getting me to the point where I could complete that related task. Where it was the next step to take in a series of steps, and when it was the version of myself who was able to actually do it.
I’m sure it’s the same way for you, too.
I know from experience it can be helpful to look at a task as just a task as an antidote to overthinking, and to make it seem less insurmountable. At the same time, I’m realizing, and wanting to honor, the importance of pausing to recognize the greater moment. That one task was something a past version of me, a past version of you, didn’t do, couldn’t do, or wouldn’t do. It was a figment of the imagination, a hope for something that would happen, sometime.
So, I’m pausing to recognize the moment and say to myself, wow, good job. Wow, we did that. That took a lot (time, effort, energy, intention, avoidance, whatever!), and here we are. We’ve come far, and before we’re onto the next thing in the creation of the next updated version of ourselves, our lives, or our internal software and more, let’s just linger here a moment. Celebrate a little, celebrate a lot. Let yourself receive this moment in your life.
A related note from the stars: We’re currently in a series of astrological retrogrades, which are notorious as a time for travel mishaps and technical glitches. The invitation in these seasons is more around slowing to reflect, rather than pushing forward without pause. Whether you believe patterns in the sky can mirror energetic sentiments on Earth or not, I welcome the opportunity to bring the lens to my own life, and think there is a value in that. Not as prescriptive per se, to do or not to do; rather as a theme to explore, the same way reading a good book or watching a good movie can generate reflections on our own lives.