Eating Fruit Off the Ground
another way to define success
Dear Friend,
I have a tendency to set ambitious goals for myself. When I’m well-rested and the sun is shining and life is flowing in a predictable routine, there’s no limit to what I think I can accomplish.
Schedule that medical appointment I’ve been putting off? Definitely! Actually put away my laundry? Of course. Edit my whole book in a month? Easy-peasy.
But then life has a way of shifting off course, bumping and sliding down into a ravine I didn’t see coming. A kiddo wakes up with nightmares a few nights in a row. We get hit with another round of pink eye. I decide it’s time to adopt a puppy, for example.
(Yes, this all really happened.)
The best thing I’ve learned when real life gets extra life-y is to downshift my priorities. You’ve heard of reaching for low-hanging fruit. What I’m talking about is eating fruit off the ground.
Did you feed yourself and any creatures that depend upon you for their survival? You get a round of applause. Did you rsvp ‘no’ to any and all events you don’t want to attend? (Ahem, kids birthday parties at indoor play parks.) You get the ear-splitting two-finger whistle I wish I could do.
Did you switch your 10-course tasting menu goal to something smaller than bite-sized? You get a standing ovation. For me, it was the amuse-bouche of editing a paragraph or two a day. I scooped that apple off the ground, dusted it on my shirt, and let the juice of one bite run down my chin. Yes, yes, yes.
Success doesn’t have to mean scaling the tree and plucking the golden apple. Changing your goals is a sign of resiliency. It means you notice and value your physical and mental health. It means eating fruit off the ground and knowing you’ll get back to climbing one day soon.
xo,
Laura