#MindfulMonday What Matters Now

Seth Godin has posed this question before: what matters now? And truly, we do need to stop to ask ourselves this question. Right now. Sit down. Grab some paper and a writing utensil (I’m particularly fond of colored pens). What matters now? Here, I’ll go first…

My family’s financial wellbeing — and our overall wellbeing, of course — matters now. I’ve taken measures to do my part to recover from our financial disaster and begin rebuilding our lives. Right now, I must have focus, discipline, patience, strength, and stamina. This didn’t happen overnight, and it won’t magically change overnight, either. Right now, writing from the heart matters. While I’d certainly adore earning a living through my writing, right now I have to focus my efforts on other ways to earn income. Right now, I require a creative outlet for myself — to express myself, to write what needs to be written, to share what my heart wants you to read. Writing for money will come later when I’m fully prepared to undertake that effort. I privately journal my thoughts, feelings, frustrations, and daily interactions each night, a sort of mental defragmenting. Our hard drives run so much better after being defragmented, so you can imagine how much smoother thought processes run after mentally “defragmenting.”

I matter now. My part time job requires physical exertion, and it is my responsibility to all parties involved to take care of myself. I deserve that hour break to eat a good meal and read quality literature. (Did you know Hemingway and I both adore[d] polydactal cats?) Right now, at this very moment, what matters is that I pause between sentences and thoughts to pet the purring 6 year old kitten in my lap — because she’s still my kitten, over six years after this poor thing survived Hurricane Katrina. What matters now is that I’m alive and capable of changing things. I’m fully able to write my own story, to follow my dreams.

What matters now?