Friday, January 18, 2013

Stop Reading and Start Doing!



This is my second motivational post - directed mainly to myself. I need to declutter and get organised. My problem is that I love books, and I love reading, and too often I turn to my reading before doing other things that need to be done. As a result I am always 'going to' do things, but they never actually get done. Starting now [how many times have I said that before!] I am going to start focusing on the process of living rather than hurrying through tasks just so that they can finish quickly. 

I am always fascinated by the beautiful work of the new artisans who are appearing. Young - and not so young - individuals who are relearning the old crafts and becoming experts in so many crafts, not only the 'bigger' ones, but also the more esoteric: 


Think of the patience, the concentration needed for this, and the beauty of the end result. The time taken to do the job is whatever time is needed to do it well. There is no question of 'just getting it done'. Surely we should try to live like that when we can. Of course it is often not possible in a busy life, but maybe we could create pockets of serenity and artisan skill in many areas of our home lives at least. Slow living when we can do it must be the answer to our tendency to superficiality and addiction to speed. So watch this space to see if I manage to sustain my good intentions!

Here is another little post I found from a Keri Murphy website which I have included to kickstart my year:

"In this day and age of social media, e-zines and enough self-help books to absorb the oil spill, it becomes incredibly easy to get tied up in reading about the life you want instead of LIVING IT. Of course, there is a great deal of knowledge to be gained by such experts and stories but at some point one has to TAKE ACTION!
If you don’t know where to start, that’s OK. The most difficult part in doing anything is usually just getting it off the ground. I have always found that once I put the intention out there that I am going to do or create “something”, I then start attracting the right people and things to make it happen. To this day, this constantly amazes me! Trust me, there are still plenty of days I find myself spinning around the office with no clue as to what to do next or how I am going to get there. It is just as easy for me to get encapsulated in the reading and research. It is during those moments that I take time to re-focus and examine my plan.
A plan for me is simply a rough map of where I am going, what I want to accomplish and how I plan to do it. Like most maps, it does not include the major traffic jams, potholes and detours…but it does keep me focused on where I am going. Any destination without a map is a whole lot harder to get to. It is so important not to lose site of where it is you are heading. However, at some point you have to put down the map and drive. (I know – enough metaphors)
So put down the books, log-off your computer and start LIVING the life you want!
Thoughts + Action = RESULTS!


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