Beware of the false sense of urgency.  How do i know this?  I struggle immensely with it.  It is that voice in my head that says that all time needs to be productive.  All tasks need to be accomplished.  But sometimes you don’t even know what the tasks are.  It is a spinning head and an unsettled soul.  It will control you if you let it.  It will convince you that you can’t take a load off and rest.  You have no time for that.  There is stuff that needs attention.  And now. But you feel as if you are on the wrong side of a very heavy vault door.

And worst of all, I think, is the false sense of urgency robs our ability to be present in our own lives.  It sabotages any chance we have to #WINtheNOW.  It relentlessly tells us lies about who we are and what we have to do.  What we need to accomplish.  It is debilitating.  It has robbed countless people of a restful Sabbath, a restful vacation, even a restful drive home from work.

If you have3 not experienced the false sense of urgency, then I am envious of you.  I would love to say that is true of me.  I am fighting it as I write this blog.  The feeling of a hundred other things that I should be doing.

But this I have found.  A good first step is making a list.  It doesn’t have to be a to-do list or anything specific.  Just make a list.  Everything that is running circles in your head.  Everything that is attempting to steal your joy and keep you from living in the present.  Then take a good look at that list.  Was the list reflective of how loud the urgency was dialed up? Or is the reality not so bad?

Here is where many get caught up.  They get to this step and stare at the list.  And freeze.  Victims of analysis paralysis.  They simply can’t decide what to do next so they do nothing.  And the false sense of urgency jumps right back in where it left off.  It takes and steals life from you.  Because you let it.

But it’s ok!  That’s the beauty of #WINtheNOW.  It reminds you that it’s not over yet!  Not even close.  Take your list back out and look it over.  And then move.  Take one concrete step toward checking something off the list.  How good does it feel to cross something off your list?  Exhilarating I think.  A sense of accomplishment.  Giving the boot to the false sense of urgency.

And better yet, the next time that false sense comes knocking on your door, you know exactly what to do.  Little steps.  Big results.  Just move.