Taming The Gremlin

As I was driving Rebecca to school, I starting thinking about my day and how much (or little, as the case may be), work I had to accomplish today. The little angst-producing gremlin in my stomach started doing his usual acrobatics.

At this time of year - I used to spend a little extra money on a short trip, or a new Fall shirt, or something like that. These days, there is no extra money, and thinking about lack always excites that pesky little gremlin.

So I started thinking of ways I could stop the gremlin in his tracks and do something different. I want to recapture that peaceful, open feeling that washed over me yesterday while I sat atop the Buck Springs Tunnel on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I felt much more creative after that experience.

Rather than worry about what I don't have, I started thinking about what I do have in plentiful supply: the luxury of time. With time, I can still go on a spending spree, so long as I spend it wisely. There are so many helpful things I can do with my time - things that gremlin won't like, because they starve him. Hee hee!

I'll start with a meditation. I can't travel up the Blue Ridge Parkway every morning to capture that serene feeling I experienced yesterday, but I can sit for 25 minutes and clear my mind.

Then, I can schedule time for work and time for creative pursuits, and stick to that schedule. That way, I'll introduce a little more discipline into my daily routine, and feel a better sense of accomplishment once I check off the activities I complete.

When I think of all the tasks Rebecca assigned me over the 30 days, they were all great gremlin-tamers. If I get stuck for ideas, I have 30 blog posts to remind me!