Today has been one of those days in which my “to do” list far exceeds the amount of time I have. As I ran through my list – and through my day – I was aware of that little voice inside of me, trying to get my attention.

“I don’t have time for you right now,” I kept responding. “Not now. Later.”

Dishes. Laundry. Mail. Writing. And still, that little voice.

“NOT. NOW.” I said again, a bit impatiently this time.

Write. Read. Revise. Read again. Rewrite. Reread. Repeat.

And, again, that little voice.

“NOT! NOW!” I lost it with myself. “I can’t stop now!”

At five o’clock, my list still large and looming, I finally took a breath. And that’s when I realized that I had lost a whole day. Not in the sense of getting nothing done, I had gotten plenty done, but I had not really been present for any of it. I had rushed through my day from one thing to another, not really paying attention, not really being present, not really living.

I had let my kids watch too much TV. I had spent too much time in front of the computer. I had taken too few breaths.

I closed my laptop, made myself a snack and sat down to rest.

“You can only do one thing at a time you know,” the little voice said, now that it had my attention.

“I know, but…” I started to run down my list again, of all the things I had to do.

“One thing,” it repeated insistently.

“I know, I know,” I said, giving in and realizing it all over again.

When I stood up I asked myself, “What is the FIRST thing I need to get done?” And then I did it, to completion, before moving on to the next thing.

When I get in this mode I feel like I am in the driver’s seat again. Behind the wheel, the things of life coming at me, but at a pace I can handle. One thing hitting the windshield at a time, then bouncing off before the next thing appears. Being. HERE. NOW.