Last night I stood in the middle of the living room, holding a precarious stack of books and despairing over what to read next.
I was paralyzed with indecision.
Have you ever struggled in this way when faced with too many choices?
I consistently struggle in three main areas:
- Books
- Getting rid of things that I might need someday
- Choosing a travel destination
When it comes to books, there literally are too many interesting books being released every year on top of all the things written in the past to ever feel like there’s enough time.
Issues with letting go of things seem to be genetic and related to my Appalachian roots where holding on to stuff has been an economic decision. My ancestors knew the value of a dollar, of a thing, and of having a stash of stuff for when you need it. Packrattery is a survival mechanism.
And travel decisions are hard because, like books, there are finite resources (time + money) and an infinite amount of places to go. How do we begin to choose?
These areas have felt like an uphill battle for some time now.
When it comes to travel, I typically take longer trips with adventure pals and shorter trips with my fella. Life circumstances for my adventure pals have made it harder for them to go on those longer journeys. And honestly, I’ve just been lazy about getting some shorter trips on the calendar. I used to have adventure ideas in my back pocket every week. I need to get back to those roots but am often torn by the multitude of places to visit and other life things to do.
But I digress.
Back to that stack of books last night,
I am not an especially fast reader but I am a devoted one. I watch little tv and carry a book nearly everywhere including to the dentist’s office yesterday. Most nights I fall asleep with a book in my hands and wake up to the thunk of it falling on me.
How my face isn’t black and blue is beyond me.
When I finish a book, I pick up another, switching genres to keep things interesting and prevent any ruts from forming.
I like the feel of a physical book in my hands and the smell of a book is one of my very favorite things. If you ever see me smelling a book, keep moving. There’s nothing to see here.
I did finally choose something and I have high hopes for it. All the same, I had reservations when walking away from that stack I had pulled. By itself, that stack represents about a month of reading. We are already about a third of the way through the year. When will I get to them and all the others?
Clearly, there needs to be more reading hours in my day along with more time to travel. And perhaps some time for therapy because I do sound like something of a basket case.
This I know.
We are the culmination of our habits. If we want to do more of something we need to prioritize it and build our habits around that thing.
What do you wish to do more of? Does indecision ever interfere? Please tell me not the only one!
