This, according to Marilynne Robinson, is the feeling we have when we think I better get all these things done before I can do the stuff that really matters...the to do list that we keep adding to before we can go for that walk or the emails we must reply to (or delete) before we can meet friends and family - even though the emails really don't matter. We think we will feel better and we will enjoy those things that matter more if we do these other things first.
Trouble is we never come to the end of those other things and often in our attempts to get those things out of the way forego the things we are trying to get to in doing them.
We can spend a whole lifetime doing this.
Sometimes its worth looking at that list of things and thinking what if I didn't do this today? Or ever in some cases? Would it really matter?
A moments pause to think of what we are racing around doing can help us focus on the things that are important to us and allow to take the time to do them with a little more tenderness.
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