I've always found the beach to be a peaceful place. It's never mattered if there is a frisbee flying, a football being thrown, noisy kids nearby, or even if it's chilly and overcast. It has always been a place that I can completely clear my mind and put everything aside. No worries, no over-thinking, no processing. Only relaxing and free thought.
The last trip to the beach was particularly peaceful. It was busy for a chilly Friday. Though the clouds cleared beautifully and I'm certain that whoever wasn't at the beach wished they were.
I had all the essentials with me. Water, towel, snack, book, sunglasses, sunscreen, phone, my trusty notebook, and magic 8 ball.
Yes, I have a magic 8 ball. And yes, I use it. I don't always do what it tells me to do, but it certainly helps me figure out what it is I really want.
If you think about it, it's not so nutty. I frequently have choices to make and, since I over think just about everything, I have a hard time deciding what it is that I really want. So I use the 8 ball to give me an answer. I think about it for a minute or two to decide how I feel about it, and go from there. I mean, isn't that what we use our friends and family for? As a sounding board for those things that are bothering us and using up too much energy? They provide feedback, we accept their opinions and points of view, and we make the decision. I just used an 8 ball instead of talking the ears off of someone else.
The notebook is almost always with me. Unless I forget it on my desk. While I have a phone with capabilities of keeping lists and paragraphs and thoughts, I love the feeling of a pen in my hand and scratching it across paper. I like flipping through and looking at past entries. It's where I write down the random things that come to me. It's where I weight the pros and cons. It's where I keep information and record decisions.
So while I was at the beach relaxing and not really feeling stress about anything, I thought I would give decision making a shot. And you know what? It worked beautifully. With decisions made and recorded, I only second guessed my decisions when I returned home and settled back into reality.
Because reality bites.
But trusting the decisions I made while I was there, I did the research necessary and came to the same conclusion as before: my gut feelings have been right all along.
I want what I want. And it's not likely to change anytime soon. And now if I can quit over-thinking it all I can make it happen.
Comments