Hello Shoulds

Ha. Whelp, my shoulds have been piling up nicely.* They patiently wait for me, stacked neatly on my bedside table, ready to pounce as I open my eyes. They like to sit on my chest. Infiltrate my thoughts. I know it’s them that has me checking my phone before I am even vertical. (Yeah, I know. Said phone should not be next to bed.)  

Logic tells me that although some of us, statistically, are indeed writing the next bestseller, a screenplay, the intriguing memoir—most of us aren’t. I’m not. And that should be okay.

The funny thing is that, minus all the shoulds, I am starting to fall into a bit of a nice routine. And, it’s the self-imposed shoulds I can do something about at a time when so much is out of my control. For me, writing about them is a big first step. It starts a dialogue: Hello, shoulds. I know you’re there. I know I’ve created you. Let us negotiate.

So I'm going to reset the pace, lessen the expectations. I’ll baby step this. Recognize how well I’m doing. At least, I should.  

*Here's the short list—the long one I can’t bear to write out.

I should be stretching more.

I should be reaching out more.

I should be helping others more.

I should be posting more. 

I should be working more.

I should be reading more.

I should be writing more. 

Do any sound familiar? Got any good shoulds of your own?