Do you know the feeling of losing the overview and control? I do, and I know how easy it can be to fall into all the things that can't be done, because it can take up quite a lot.
In an age where we are used to doing what we want, limitations or adversity are some of the hardest things to deal with. Our time is characterized by desire. We often prefer to do things we feel like doing. We zap to another movie on Netflix if the first 2 minutes seem boring. We swipe on our tablet when a website does not contain what we are looking for right here and now. A website actually only takes a few seconds to make us happy. We eat out of desire, not out of necessity, which is why most of us overeat and become overweight, and I could go on and on.
When we are driven by desire most of our waking hours, we can forget how to handle even the slightest resistance. We might become more aggressive on social media than we really needed to, we stop bothering about things, and we might not even remember how to bother with anything anymore.
There may be periods when others set the limits for us, and we get the feeling that we are almost not allowed to do anything. That's exactly where we need to focus on what we can do instead of everything we can't.
And what is it that we can do in time with limitations? We can do something for others, because when we do something for others, we also feel better about ourselves. You get good from doing something good.
I have made a list of ideas because I want to inspire you. Maybe you like some of the ideas, maybe you like all of them and maybe none of them. If you have better ideas, focus on what fits your situation and your life. Here come the ideas
- Be something for others. Help your neighbor walk the dog, take out the trash or wash the car. Shop for your grandmother and water flowers for the old man who has moved away. Clean at your uncle's place. Write a letter to an old school friend and write a column about a topic you're really passionate about for a newspaper.
- Work together with others. Polish the bike with your child, vacuum the car with your child (do you realize how good children are at getting into the corners of a car?), read many more picture books together. Move around the living room and paint the walls. Hang up the pictures that are on the floor and put the books in color order on the shelf. Clean the windows and let in the light.
- Make plans together. Make a budget together with your partner/wife/girlfriend. Plan investments and liquidate investments. Plan the next vacation. It doesn't have to go to Thailand. Maybe you can stay in Denmark this year and experience something new at home? Are you going to have another child? Then you can get started right away.
- Clean up together. Have you outgrown some clothes? Clean up clothes and shoes together and make them ready for recycling. Save the old clothes that can be used to polish a bike or car. Clean the clothes drawers and put the clothes in their place like Marie Kondo. Then you get an overview. I promise.
- Sort together. Clean up the tool. Put nails and screws in boxes and cans so you can find them more easily. Pack old toys away for the next flea market or sell them at DBA. Sort the Pokémon cards and chicken rings, check all the ticks and throw out the ones that don't work. Sharpen all the pencils and clean up the desk so you want to sit there again.
- Experience together. Pack a food basket, pour coffee on the thermos and take a blanket under your arm. Take a walk in the woods. Hit the beach. Relax in the nearest park. Enjoy the good weather and build up the stores of vitamin D in the sun. Remember sunscreen.
- Cook together. All men in the kitchen. Put on good music and what-the-fridge-and-the-freezer-hidden on the menu, and think outside the box. Make dough for super easy ciabatta , soak chickpeas for hummus tomorrow. Set a nice table with place cards and put all the food on the table. Eat for a long time, talk about the best holiday you've had, the best Christmas presents you've received and everything that makes you happy.
- Be with the family. Take a bath with the kids. Play a board game. Find the high school songbook and sing until you say goodbye. Make your own marshmallows (a bit sticky, but easy to make and ready in a few hours). Bake buns with the kids. Eat pancakes for dinner. Give the children a food day where they decide for themselves what they want to make for dinner. Look at old photographs and tell stories about when you were a child and your children were small. Turn off all the lights, draw the curtains, light 1 candle and tell ghost stories.
- Go to bed early. Change the bed linen. Air out. Find a good book and read until the book falls on your forehead. Sleep longer than usual and wake up refreshed and full of energy. Start over on the list.
What have you done today for someone other than yourself? Or together with your family? If you didn't make it today, try tomorrow.
