I'm not busy--I'm abundant

This is my new mantra. I am one of those people who gets overwhelmed fairly easily, and I also hate to mess around with my schedule. I still glare at the front doors of the elementary school, because it's "stolen" an hour out of my Monday--and I'm the one who had the idea to sign up as a parent volunteer.

Yeah. What can I say? I'm a dork. I also sometimes get mad at myself for agreeing to write for Horror-Web, even though it's totally my dream (volunteer) job. I also sometimes resent things like family reunions, holidays and other people's birthdays. You should have heard me complaining about Christmas.

Anyway, I'm trying to change my mindset. Now when I feel overwhelmed because I have too many social engagements, I'm going to tell myself: I'm so lucky to have so many friends. And when I realized I would miss my entire Friday-workday next week because I'm chaperoning a class trip to theatre, I told myself: I've got a wonderful chance to experience theatre! And maybe it will inspire a short story! (Okay, admittedly, I thought this after I had a little temper tantrum.)

So when I start freaking out because I've got two stories to edit and a book to write and two books to review and a backlog on my personal reading list, I will just remind myself: I'm not busy--I'm abundant. I've got an abundance of wonderful creativity to enjoy; I've got an abundance of wonderful learning opportunities. I am so lucky.

And you know what? I really am!