Real Life Wednesday — Episode 55

🥷 The Covert Mission

Hello and welcome to Real Life Wednesday, episode 55.

So last night I went on a covert mission, and when I say covert mission, I mean I was still wearing my army uniform. I climbed out of a window in my green army socks. I was ducking next to my car, and there was thunder and lightning in the background.

All because I needed to get my watch out of my car.

Let me explain.

💜 Protecting My Energy

I've been trying to conserve my energy this week because I have a really important interview on Thursday. Interviews make me very nervous, and I really want to be able to focus my attention and energy on preparing for it.

At the same time, there's a situation with one of my tenants that I know I need to address, and I also know that addressing it could potentially turn into a confrontation or at the very least take energy that I really don't want to spend on it right now.

It's not that I'm not going to deal with it, I'm just choosing not to deal with it until after my interview.

So I've been doing a pretty good job of avoiding unnecessary interaction.

Which brings us back to my watch.

⌚ I Just Needed My Watch

I use my watch to track my sleep, and when I was thinking about getting ready for bed, I realized I had left it in my car.

Now normally, getting something out of your own car should be pretty simple.

You walk upstairs, you walk out the door, you get it.

Apparently, I decided that was not an option.

My office is on the garden level of my house, which means the window is above the ground and opens directly to my front yard, and my desk sits right in front of the window.

So first, I turned the light off in my office.

Then I had to move my laptop out of the way and put it to the side so I could actually get to the window.

And then, still wearing my army uniform and my green army socks, I climbed out the window.

At this point, there was actual thunder and lightning outside, because apparently my covert mission needed special effects.

⚡ And Then My Car Lit Up

I wasn't completely sure if my tenant was still upstairs. Usually, I can hear when someone is moving around up there. I thought I had heard something, but I wasn't a hundred percent sure.

So I opened up my car from afar and immediately realized my mistake.

The lights came off, the inside lights and the outside lights.

Basically, my car announced to the entire neighborhood, "Somebody's out here."

So now I'm standing outside in my army uniform and socks waiting for the car lights to turn back off because I don't want my tenant to look out the window, open the door, or realize that I'm outside.

Finally, the lights went off, so I ducked down and made my way over to the passenger side of the car, opened the door, grabbed my watch, closed the door, and made my way back to my office window.

Mission accomplished.

Except now, my green army socks were soaking wet and covered in mulch.

So before I could even climb back through the window, I had to take my socks off.

😂 This Is Ridiculous

And somewhere in the middle of all of this, I had to acknowledge just how ridiculous this was.

I am sneaking around outside of my own house in my army uniform during a thunderstorm because I don't want to have a conversation.

But here's the thing.

As ridiculous as it was, I also knew why I was doing it.

🧠 It Doesn't Need My Attention Right Now

I have something really important coming up. I know interviews already make me nervous, and I know there is a conversation that needs to happen that could take a lot of my energy.

But just because something needs my attention doesn't mean it needs my attention right now.

I wasn't deciding never to deal with it.

I was deciding when I wanted to deal with it.

And sometimes that's something we have to remember, especially when there are a lot of things competing for our attention something can be important and still wait.

Sometimes we get to say, "Yes, I need to deal with that, but that's another day's problem. Right now, my interview needs my focus. The other conversation can wait until afterward."

🧦 Mission Accomplished

Now, did I necessarily need to turn off my office light, climb out the window in my army uniform, wait for my car lights to turn off, duck across the yard in a thunderstorm, and come back with soaking wet mulch-covered army socks?

Probably not.

But I got my watch, and I didn't have to have the conversation, so I am calling the mission a success.

💭 Something to Think About

And maybe there's something in your life right now that needs your attention but doesn't necessarily need it today.

What do you want to spend your energy on right now?

And what can you intentionally decide is another day's problem?

Until Next Time

Thank you for spending a little bit of your day with me.

Until next time, I'll see you for Thought Shift Thursday.

Until then, I hope today's episode helped you create a little more clarity, feel a little more calm, and have a little more confidence. 💜💚