Learning to question my mindset

I had a busy schedule last week after deciding to sign up for a 3-day online training course about facilitating groups. I still tried to stick to my self-imposed painting schedule. This meant that I had to squeeze in painting in every break and before and after my training.

I tend to have a fear of missing out and therefore automatically ask myself what I might be missing out on by saying no to an activity or event, so have a habit of overfilling my schedule.

I decided to tweak my question: What am I missing out on by saying yes to so many things? Here is what I realized:

1) Learning fast is not the same as learning well. I finished my painting exercises as planned, but I got some proportions, values and details wrong.

2) Scheduling tasks back-to-back left no room to process experiences. I was not fully present for either the training or the painting sessions.

3) Painting had turned from a joy into a stressful chore. Some counselling colleagues on the training course reminded me that learning to paint can be a valuable mindfulness exercise and act of self-care.

So this week I want to take my time and accept that a painting may take me longer than it would take some other artists or than I had initially anticipated. This may mean that the COLOURED oil paints I have been sent for the next block of my course may have to remain untouched for a little while longer.

NB

Interestingly, I missed my deadline for posting this blogpost because there are problems with logging into my account - and the world did not cave in because I missed another self-imposed deadline. :)