Why I’ve Been Procrastinating Writing to You About This

Have you heard the parable of the jar of life?

In the story, you are presented with a pile of sand, pebbles, and rocks, and you’re told to fill a jar with all of them. If you start filling the jar with sand first then pebbles, and then rocks, (i.e. smallest to largest) you will find that the jar is quickly filled, and not all of the rocks will fit in.

But if you put the large rocks in first, and then fill the pebbles in around them shifting and adjusting as needed, and then pour in the sand, it will will all settle into the jar as you fill it, and the same contents will all be able to fit in.

Steven Covey, the author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, describes the big rocks as representing the important things in your life.  He recommends putting these bigger, important  things into your schedule first, to make sure what you highly value fits in -  otherwise they may not fit in at all.

This story is helpful in reflecting on what really matters to you and how you’re spending your energy and time. Are you putting the things you value most in place first?

But here’s the thing -  

We lead very full lives. There are a lot of things that may feel valuable and important to you that are filling up your life, and yet you might still feel that there isn’t space for all of you. You may feel like there is a part of your being that you long for, you wish to reconnect with, to feel more alive, healthy, stronger, calm, expressed. And it just feels like you don’t know how to fit it in.

Your jar of life is already filled to the brim with your current rocks, pebbles, and sand, however you’ve been organizing them. And if you want to make an adjustment and create time for something or for a part of yourself that feels like it’s calling you - you’ve got to get your hands in the jar, and rearrange things.

Making choices can be hard. Rearranging can get messy at first, but it will be deeply supportive to clear things out, and choose what is important to you now at this point and stage in your life and give precedence to it. And hold faith that everything else will fall into place. It may mean letting go of some habits or ways of living that have been familiar. It may also be a little scary because you haven’t known what it is like to live your life in this way. Up until now you’ve known how to make things work and survive in the way you’ve been living.

And here’s my personal confession -

I’ve been procrastinating sharing this with you, because I haven’t been giving precedence to the time and space for my writing and expression, which is something I really long for and desire to do more of. It has been tangled up a bit in other feelings, but I now have my hands in the jar and am rearranging what I can to prioritize what matters!

If you feel like you’ve been putting off a shift or change that you really desire, I want you to know you are not alone! I know this experience myself and it’s something that I help women work through all the time: Taking small simple steps in your lifestyle, body, and energy to move you towards what you really want to feel and be living.

I’ll be back next week sharing some tips on organizing your priorities.

For now, I invite you to get clear for yourself... what is a big rock that you really want to have in place? What’s been in the way of prioritizing it?

If you are craving support with prioritizing parts of yourself, your well-being, or getting clear on how you can make the change you desire, I’m here for you.

Click here and we can schedule a time to talk to explore how working together I could support you!