Choose every morsel of the day
TOTAL READ TIME: 3 Minutes
I had two meetings the other day. The purpose of both was me seeking counsel from two distinct teams regarding unrelated topics. It was a typical work day.
However, both meetings had one common denominator. I was asked the same question by different people in each meeting: “Kathy, what do YOU want?”
Even though they were referring to business outcomes, my mind must have taken it to my heart. I woke up that night at 3:02am, with their voice ringing in my head. “Kathy, what do YOU want?” I then realized this was a pivotal question for my own personal life.
“What do YOU want?”
I shouldn’t want more. I already have a lot of beautiful things. I am blessed with a kind husband, boisterous kids, family, friendship, home, career, dogs, chickens and great health. But any good life is filled with retrospection, introspection and a bit of dreaming for the future. Right?
It rings again. “What do YOU want?”
I really don’t think I’ve ever answered that question. My life was built on auto-pilot with too many shoulds:
- I should go to college then build a dependable career
- I should be responsible then do the practical thing
- I should put my dreams in a box
- I should wait until –
To clarify – no one should on me. I did it myself. I simply followed the societal program of shoulding.
“What do YOU want?”
I looked at the clock again at 4:00am on the dot, still lacking the courage to answer that question. I spent a lifetime asking others that question, but forgot to ask myself that same one.
This question is a gift. I’ve now identified where I’m on auto-pilot and flipped the manual switch to intentional choice. It has shifted me to micro-choose every morsel of the day.
Our micro-morsels are small but they transform to be big and life-altering. The theme of my micro-morsels are moments of joy. Like digging up my favorite childhood music. Buying a hula-hoop. Dancing more around the house. Making the impractical decision of getting a second, high-shedding large-breed dog. Learning how to brew kombucha. Baking sourdough bread with my very own starter. Then eating it with zero guilt and all joy. Starting a new skills-trade group in my community to build connection and enrichment. More fires in the fireplace.
Will you join me in this walk? Let’s do less shoulding and more choosing. Together, we will walk the longest, most treacherous 18-inch journey from our head to our heart, to answer that question.
“What do YOU want?”