Saturday, February 28, 2015

Just Because You Love Something Doesn't Mean You Have To Own It

Is this what they mean by "owning my morning?"
I have a dilemma.  After the real estate market crash here in ground zero (Las Vegas),  I did not emerge unscathed.  In fact, there are scathed people everywhere in the real estate industry here.  Currently, my most precious possession is the mantra I tell myself anytime the "ownership" feeling starts rearing its ugly head, "Just because I love something doesn't mean I have to OWN it."  (Serenity now….).  

Which brings me to my current dilemma.  I LOVE mornings.  It is hands down my most favoritest, gloriousest, fuzziest, joyest, funnest, lack-of-anything-having-gone-wrong-yet time of day.  And now, NPR's new mantra for why I should continue to tune into their morning newscast (Morning Edition….I bow to you!) is that I will OWN my morning if I continue as the dedicated listener I have been for the past….how many years?  How can I explain to them that I am not allowed to OWN things I LOVE?  

I found myself perplexed with this phrase, "Own your morning".  To be quite honest, I hadn't heard it before, which isn't surprising because there was a time in the not too distant past that I had to ask who this Kardashian character was and which selfless act of charity was she alone responsible for that she should be so widely recognized?  So, a little research of "ownership" and "morning" led to a site that linked to an article in "Entrepreneur" magazine, and the highlights of "owning your morning" included:
  • Having a routine works wonders for keeping your mornings calm and relaxed.
  • Don’t press the snooze button! However tempting it may seem, snoozing can actually make us feel groggier for longer.
  • Get moving! – Whether its just a stretch or a full body workout, it gets your blood pumping and keep you feeling more alert.
  • Don’t check your work emails before you get to work – remember the morning is yours to enjoy!

Well, I'll be brief:
    #1.  But I DO have a routine!  However, my animals unfortunately are not routine about how and where and when they vomit or otherwise release their bodily fluids during the night, so often, my routine is thwarted by "Attention: shoppers! wet cleanup in aisle 3!", putting me already behind schedule!  Oh, crap!  Wait a minute….I must stay calm and relaxed.

  #2.  I LOVE my snooze button.  More than once, I have felt disappointed in my new phone because it only allowed 3 snooze sessions.  Maybe I should just be honest with myself and reset the original wake-up time?  But, I love the routine of swiping the snooze icon!

  #3.  See #2.

  #4.  Guilty as charged.  Ok.  I think I can do that.   I could stand a little "the morning is yours to enjoy"….

So, I guess this "ownership" they are talking about is really "taking responsibility" for how you want your day to go based on how you spend your first hours of the day, or something like that.  Ok.  Honorable.

Meanwhile, I'm really trying to rid myself of the need to own things, including time.  

Time is something we rent, not own.  It isn't ours to keep.  It is ours to use.  I don't want to "own" my morning.  I don't want to ever experience buyer's remorse for time spent doing one thing when I could have spent it on something else.  I want to "rent" my morning with the same immediate purpose that I rent anything else in my life.  I have a definite purpose when I rent something, be it a car, a tool from Home Depot, a movie, a boat, a bike, whatever.  

And when I'm done, I return it to where it came from. 

And when I'm done here, I'll return to where I came from.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

"Feelin' Groovy", or Slow Down, Ya Move Too Fast

One day, as I was driving the freeway to an inspection on the east side of town, I looked over the barrier at the oncoming traffic because, of course, there was an accident.  All lanes blocked.  "Bu-hu-hu-hummer", I said out loud, while looking not at the aftermath of the accident itself, but the tragedies unfolding in every car behind that wreck.  Faces in cars whipping by me like a train, revealing the upcoming late arrivals at job interviews, or ruined lunch dates, or thoughts of doggies at home inside, desperate to relieve themselves when "mom" comes home, or a piano recital about to happen without dad in the audience, or an already rescheduled specialist doctor's appointment that will be missed…..so many cars, so many lives, so many stories, all locked up in time, stagnant on the freeway.  

This jam went on for MILES, and there was no way off for those at the front.  I kept glancing over as well as I could at 60 mph, because I wanted to see how long it went, and how the traffic was when it came upon the tell-tale stream of red lights in front of it.  Further back, cars were slowing.  Then, cars were spreading out.  Cars were lane jockeying, trying to get around the car going just the speed limit.   I could actually SEE people being mean to other people, and trying to gain the system…."WTF, you mother!  Get out of the left lane!  What, you gettin' paid by the hour?!!"….What came to me at that moment was that I, Teresa Owens, knew something about ALL of these peoples' future that they did not know…that they had no CLUE about!

Whoa!  Is this what it's like to be god?

"Hey you!  Yeah you! Passing that car at 80 mph on the right? Because you think you're going to get somewhere faster?  Guess what? "

Now, my trip had become a game of keeping my eyes on both sides of the highway long enough to be entertained by all the machinations of people trying to get "ahead" in their lives on the opposite side of the road, and yet still stay alive on my own side of the road.

I love the lessons to be learned by everyday, mundane activities.  The takeaway from this 10 minutes of my life was that it really doesn't matter who you get ahead of in life.  It really doesn't matter how clever you think you are about maneuvering your way through obstacles.  We're all on this "freeway" together, and when everything jams up, all your maneuvering is for naught.  Someone is on the other side, watching you…and laughing at how you think you are getting somewhere faster or better than someone else.

Don't worry.  We all get to our destinations soon enough.  Or later.