Getting some exercise (1)

[netpositive]

Who looks outside dreams;
who looks inside, awakes.
-Carl Jung

Is this sympathetic magic?

Whenever you find something you don't like,
write it down and throw it into the trash.
By doing this, you are telling the universe,
"I want to be done with this problem, please
help me work through it and be done with it."

Something to try...

When you arise in the morning, think
of what a precious privilege it is to be alive
- to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.
-Marcus Aurelius

Comments

Re: I had wanted to comment on this earlier...

[netpositive.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear about the job shift, and commentary is always welcome, however belated. :)

I think it's becoming very difficult for many people to leave work "at work", esp if/when a lot of one's activities at home are so similar to work ones (phones, computers, email, recordkeeping, etc.). I know for me there's a lot of bleed-over -- and despite current best efforts to get a handle on it. it's not getting better very quickly. It's affecting my home life (and vice versa), and I'm trying to work out ways to deal with it that work for me. If it were just myself to consider, that would be one thing... but there are other people involved, both at home and at work, and I feel like I have to consider them to some extent as well.

One of the reasons I'm highly reluctant (some might call it actively resistant...) to be a high-level volunteer in any organizations or groups is because, basically, a major part of my job right now is "running things". Sure, I think I'm good at it, but I'm finding it very stressful. The very last thing I want to do outside of work is to "run things" as well. The only busman's holiday I want is a book by Dorothy L. Sayers.

Frankly, I find volunteering to be a wonderful idea in theory, but my own experience has been that organizations have no soul and no sympathy. Also I've run into too many people who are seeking validation - or worse, sheer power - from their volunteer work that (for whatever reason) they don't get in any other parts of their life. It's bad enough in my mind when the "needs" of the organization get in the way of its ostensible mission (for example, charities where fundraising takes a larger and larger share of expenses), but when someone's main sense of identity is bound up in their volunteer work, I start to ask myself why that is... and I find I don't always like the answer.

I look at my life overall, and there's a lot of good in it. I try not to lose sight of that when I'm feeling overwhelmed or panicked. Plus I'm not much on complaining, at least not in a serious fashion. I exaggerate some "disasters" for comic effect to entertain my friends -- let them know I'm not perfect. ;) But things that really bother me, I work on quietly.

I do like that carpenter story, though. Hmm, I wonder if maybe I should start hanging my backpack under the side portico. :)