The evening meditation program I’ve recently started is based on positive affirmations meant to help you let go of the day you’ve had and prepare for sleep. You are encouraged to repeat every affirmation and discover what triggers you. I am very new to this sort of thing and sometimes I struggle to stay focused. However, there’s one affirmation that keeps bugging me:
I’ve done my best today and that is enough.
Every time I hear it I go over the things I’ve done that day and wonder - was it really my best? Is that enough? How do you know what is your best? Are we talking about actual work and earning enough money? Does household work count? What about working on yourself?
Today I’ve been fairly productive and put in more hours of solid work than I usually do. Yesterday, not so much as I was going to a concert with my family. Does that count as being lazy?
I still have some work to do, but here I am writing on my blog. Is it bad? At meditation time, can I truly say I’ve done my best today?
When you meet someone, one of the first things they tell you is their job, which is indicative of the level of education they have and how much money they make. We judge people by the work they do and we’re expected to be suitably impressed when someone mentions they work 10 hours a day. Actually, many judge themselves by the lucrative work they do. 'I’ve just come home from a hard day’s work and nothing more can be expected of me.' I expect they’re the kind who’d have no qualms saying that they’ve done their best.
What about the partner you’re too tired to talk to? Or the kid you barely see when coming home late every day? What about your own needs? Maybe investing some time in yourself would make you a nicer person, more involved, more caring. There’s no money in that, but your family and your coworkers would be much happier with a better version of you!
How do you find a balance between what you must do in terms of providing for your family and taking care of yourself?
Writing on my blog is a good way of putting my thoughts in order and staying committed to this blog. If I keep putting it off, I’ll end up abandoning it again, which in itself is a failure on my part.
The person writing on Hive is the real me, while the freelancer dealing with meaningless tasks is not. That’s just a robot doing crap work.
As I sit at my desk, I could do either. If I do some real work, at least I’d be done with it, but there’s always more work and, anyway, I’d become mentally exhausted, stressed out, and not a pleasure to be around. On the other hand, doing something I like and sharing my ideas makes me happy. The amount of time I can objectively dedicate to either activity is the same, but doing something that makes me happy and calm puts me in a better mood to finish the rest of the things on my to-do list. (I still have to make a cake for the guests we're having tomorrow if you must know!)
How do you find balance in your life? Do you have a to-do list and tick off everything you’ve accomplished?
As far as I’m concerned, I think I’m happy with my day, but I’d also be OK with a day of doing nothing productive. If you take a day to walk, read and listen to a podcast, does that count as doing your best?
P.S. This is my first post to this community and I hope it fits!