At times, I worry about the "velocity" of life.

Life seems to move faster and faster... or, rather, we seem to need to jam more and more content into the same amount of time.

Just Think About TV News!

ForestPath
A peaceful spot

Maybe it's just a sign that I am getting old, but I remember when watching "The News" on TV meant you sat down and had someone like Dan Rather or Peter Jennings quite literally "read the news."

Occasionally, you'd break for a couple of minutes and watch a "field report," and then go back to the main newscaster.

When I think about the TV News today, there are a couple of newscasters, about four different "tickers" feeding everything from headlines, to sports line scores, to stock market numbers, to weather... and picture-in-picture reports talking about something other than the main story.

And somehow... we're supposed to take it all in.

Reminds me of an old "Far Side" cartoon, where the nerdy kid in class puts up his hand and says to the teacher "Please may I be excused? My brain is full!"

And so, I am standing in my kitchen...

... sipping my first cup of coffee... and just trying to outline a couple of ideas for today's potential Steemit posts. On paper, with a pen.

LeavesFloating
Branch floating on a still pond

And then the phone rings, and my wife is shouting something from the other room, and the cat is suddenly on the counter insisting it's breakfast time, the dog starts barking at something outside... and my note taking promptly heads down the drain.

Of course, there's nothing exceptional about the "bucolic" domestic scene unfolding in my kitchen, but I had a moment of insight, realizing that my life just turned into a microcosmic metaphor for our world.

There's too much going on, and we're trying to do and accomplish too much with too little time!

Simplification... and Priorities

"I meant to" write this post this morning, but "life got in the way."

Sunset
Sunset over Protection Island

Of course, that's mostly a rationalization. The truth is that sometimes we are not active agents in our own lives... in the sense that we don't SET our priorities, we let our priorities be set FOR us.

I look at many of my days, and I realize that they are filled with things I have persuaded myself that I "have to" get done... and by the time I am too exhausted to take on anymore, what's left over on my daily list of ambitions is mostly the stuff I would "like to" get done.

There's a bit of a disconnect there... in the sense that there is a clear gap between the "have tos" and the "want tos." The "have tos" mostly revolve around the fact that it costs money to live and electric bills don't pay themselves... and I am yet to figure out a way to be substantially compensated for my "want tos."

How Often Do we Wrestle With This? Seeking Simplicity...

So here I am, back at setting priorities-- six hours later, making it a priority to write these words. Even though, there are probably client emails to be answered.

Butterfly, resting in the sun

The point?

We have to remember that "things don't change." We are the ones who have to make the changes... otherwise life simply ends up happening TO us. And that sort of sucks. And represents the easy way to get suck in a rut.

Last but not least, I flashed back to an article I read recently. It was written by a "reformed" time management expert who asserted (now in his 60's) that the single best way to manage being overwhelmed by what feels like "too many things that need to be done" is... ta-da... simply to do fewer things.

I think that may be the wave of the future!

How about YOU? Do you feel like life is sometimes overwhelmingly full of "content?" Do you find yourself wishing for a "simpler" life? Are you taking active steps to make that happen... or are you waiting for some "it" to change? What would you like to be different? Leave a comment-- share your experiences and feedback-- be part of the conversation!

(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Published 20170906 17:17 PDT