I've been hoping to get a good chunk of time to sit down and write about what I learned from reading about time management for a few days since I finished the book, but instead I've been running around trying to catch up with a life that seems to have kept going without me during the time I was away in Italy. I've been running errands at this store and that, checking my banking situation, preparing for weddings (I'll be so happy when I finally cross "pick up dress from David's Bridal" off of my to do list) and visiting with my family, all while combating the sneakiest of colds that has been allowing me to function but only at the pace of a snail in the desert. So, now I sit here, writing to what I feel like is a dwindling number of loyal friends who read out of sheer love for me, trying to find a good excuse for why I haven't had the time to write about time management. Meanwhile, I am imagining Rita Emmett looking straight through me, wagging her finger and telling me that I really need to stop and examine my priorities and establish goals. She would tell me that I need to choose. I don't like choosing, though. I have always wanted to have everything.
My mother repeated countless times throughout my childhood years (and even now) that I can't have my cake and eat it, too, but somehow that lesson never really sunk in. For example, why can't I taste every different kind of ice cream? I don't want to have a whole scoop of each flavor, just a taste. That's why, during my vacation I sampled 27 different flavors of gelato, one in honor of each year I've been alive. It took me almost two whole weeks to accomplish this feat, but it wasn't impossible. So, I ask, why can't I be a great employee, friend, daughter, girlfriend, Catholic, and roommate and spend most of my time away for work while carving out time to spend with all my loved ones, and keep some time to myself to pursue my dreams, passions, and aspirations, let alone do laundry? And if I have any male readers at this point, I'd like to point out that this is not atypical for a woman and it only gets worse when it comes time for us to choose between all this (particularly the career) and having children. That is, however, a pretty big tangent to lean off of at midnight, so I'll skew back to my main topic and leave the gender issues for another day.
So, to conclude my little rant, I'll give you the concise one point summary of my studies in time management, and then I'll try to give more details in the next few days.
Bottom line: Much as I try, I cannot have it all; I will have to finally learn how to make a choice and then how to say no.
My mother repeated countless times throughout my childhood years (and even now) that I can't have my cake and eat it, too, but somehow that lesson never really sunk in. For example, why can't I taste every different kind of ice cream? I don't want to have a whole scoop of each flavor, just a taste. That's why, during my vacation I sampled 27 different flavors of gelato, one in honor of each year I've been alive. It took me almost two whole weeks to accomplish this feat, but it wasn't impossible. So, I ask, why can't I be a great employee, friend, daughter, girlfriend, Catholic, and roommate and spend most of my time away for work while carving out time to spend with all my loved ones, and keep some time to myself to pursue my dreams, passions, and aspirations, let alone do laundry? And if I have any male readers at this point, I'd like to point out that this is not atypical for a woman and it only gets worse when it comes time for us to choose between all this (particularly the career) and having children. That is, however, a pretty big tangent to lean off of at midnight, so I'll skew back to my main topic and leave the gender issues for another day.
So, to conclude my little rant, I'll give you the concise one point summary of my studies in time management, and then I'll try to give more details in the next few days.
Bottom line: Much as I try, I cannot have it all; I will have to finally learn how to make a choice and then how to say no.
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| For my first exercise in making a choice, I have forced myself to choose only one picture to add to today's post. This photo shows the first tiramisu that I enjoyed in Italy with a beautiful cappuccino in the background. The interesting thing is that another hopeless endeavor of mine has become finding a way of making my own cappuccino now that I am back and desperately miss the ones I enjoyed daily in Italy. Problem: the coffee in America always makes me really jittery! |
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