FM Walsh & Associates Inc.

The Weight of “Should”

I had a nasty case of stomach flu this weekend, so I spent the days sleeping and watching movies, giving myself a chance to recover.  I realized Sunday evening that I was feeling a heavy weight on my shoulders, feeling uncomfortable about just “lying around.”  When I tuned into why, I realized that all weekend I had this little voice whispering into my ear:  ”You should be doing this.  What about that?  You should be getting that done.”

Why do we women allow ourselves to sink under the weight and tyranny of “should”?  Yes, we are all busy juggling a lot of responsibilities, but how does feeling guilty about not doing what you “should” be doing, add to our quality of life?  And who decides what “should” be done?  The truth is that we all have stuff on our to-do list, usually more than we can comfortably manage.

Life is to be enjoyed.  And rest is a good part of life.  So my suggestion for this week is to turn down the speed and ban the “I should” thoughts.  Just refuse to let them have any room in your head.  See how much lighter you feel by Sunday.