I have a confession to make.  I am a 'doing' junkie.  I love the pursuit and the getting, but sometimes miss the joy of just being and seeing.  I think it is a combination of my own wiring and external conditioning that blinds me to the gifts that can be found in just being aware of what is right in front of me.  How many precious miracles and opportunities can be missed by dashing to the next base? 

Last month, we talked about taking action steps to making things happen, even tiny baby steps.  We talked about 'showing up' and what that means.  I have decided that I want a year of taking amazing steps (big and small) that bring me joy and I will relish every second of each experience as it builds towards the next step.  When I get the urge to prematurely move on, I will ask myself "have I learned all I can and have I done all that I can do?"  If the answer is yes, I move on.  If no, I will look for the gift I was ready to leave behind.

If there is anything that the recession is teaching me, it is to evaluate what is really important and be more reflective.  Just the other day, I heard a term joy to stuff ratio which means the time a person spends enjoying life versus the time a person spends accumulating things or earning money.  If taking amazing steps that bring me joy is a goal, then a high joy to stuff ratio is a must. 

For a 'doing' junkie, grasping this term is like a personal intervention.   The four word epiphany is simple, but powerful.  Deciding that joy is far more important than stuff is a big deal.  It is scary, exhilarating and liberating.  It is scary in the sense that you are now open to new things or old things that you tucked safely away in the closet.   You are now opening the door and your heart is pounding, but you are doing it anyway.  The door creaks, but it is opening.  It is exhilarating and liberating because you are now free to think and explore instead of boxing yourself into the previously held expectations and mindset of a stuff gatherer.  You are no longer constrained with self-limiting beliefs. 

The tingling in your spine is an old or new friend, it is joy.  It is for you to look at, dust it off and step into it.  Don't get me wrong.  I do like stuff, but joy is what sustains me and gives me the ability to take the steps to living a fulfilled life.    

When the alarm goes off on Monday morning, I am not going to think about stuff I have to do, but the steps I am going to take in the pursuit of joy determined by me for me.   The stuff will come, but as a byproduct, not a driver.