In An Overly Full Life, What Will You Say “Yes” To?

It’s the Fall, which for many of us marks the end of summer and the return (if we ever left!) to overly full lives and schedules. It was a great summer for me. I took time to enjoy my home and garden, to write, to travel with my partner and my mother, to go away on personal retreat for a week, to watch the sun rise and set. I took more time to just “be” with no other agenda.

Now that the Fall has swept in, I notice that I’m spending less time just “being.” There are deadlines again. There are programs to create and articles to write and talks to prepare. My calendar is suddenly filled with appointments. I notice that it’s been a couple of days since I just sat on the deck with a cup of tea or glass of wine to look at the garden and let my mind wander wherever it wants to go. My dogs remind me that we’ve only had one good long walk today and they’ve gotten used to two. And if I’m still working after the sun has gone down, they remind me that they have a standing evening appointment with my lap, and I’m late. In the end, they win, and that’s good for me.

We have a choice as to what we say “yes” to in life. It’s easy to forget that in the rush of our days, but it’s true. We can choose what we say “yes” to, what our top priorities will be, how and where we spend our time and energy. Perhaps even more importantly, we can choose how we “show up” to every engagement and activity. We can choose whether or not we remain connected to who we are, why we’re here, and what, deep in our heart of hearts, matters to us the most. There is always a choice. We just have to remember.

This Fall I’m feeling more conscious of that choice. My fall schedule is incredibly full. Yours probably is, too. Yet I notice I’m being more intentional this year in how I walk into each appointment and engagement. It’s as if the open space of summer won’t let go of me.

I’ve gone through my calendar and drawn lines through days to keep them free from appointments. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they will be “days off” – it means that I’m consciously making time to create, to write, to let my “being” have full expression in its calling. I’m choosing to say “yes” to connection and relationship on all levels – with people, ideas, thoughts, beliefs, circumstances, and with my soul. I’m saying “yes” to a deeper level of awareness of how I meet life every day. It’s a gift the summer gave me – a gift I’m holding onto.