The Next Right Thing

The Next Right Thing. 

You might have heard of it.  Emily P. Freeman has released a book called The Next Right Thing 

She also has a podcast with the same title. 

I've listened to several episodes of her podcast. I’m eager to read the book because it speaks to me right now.

Have you ever been paralyzed by a decision? You want to do something, but it seems too overwhelming. Or you don’t want to make the wrong decision. That’s where I’ve lived for months.

My heart feels best when I am writing. I’ve recently looked back on things I’ve written and thought, I forgot how good the hard of that writing was. 

Yet, I’m stuck. Shall I start a new blog or continue with my Running My Race of Breast Cancer blog?

Isn’t my life so much more than my race of breast cancer? Since I no longer see an oncologist, I should move on with my writing, too. 

Simple, right?

Here is how this simple decision is bogged down in my indecision:

Shall I use Blogspot or Wordpress  for a free blog service or pay for my own URL?

How do I design it?

What do I call it?

What's the best way to end this blog?

Shall I end it or what's better?

I need to research all my options and then decide.

And, there sits my empty notebook. I’m not writing and I’m not researching because I’m stuck. What comes first?

Well, do the next right thing. I’ll sit at my computer and write. That is the next right thing for me. I’ll sit for thirty minutes and write.

Once I know what I want to say, I’ll go to the next step.

My part-time job at the library is the easiest part of my day. I come into work and check my schedule. At 3 p.m. I might be scheduled at the customer service desk. My priority is customer service, but in the downtime,  I check email or work on other tasks. Then at 4 p.m. I switch to another position. Maybe it’s float. This is the hour I can check in on my displays, shelve DVDs, tidy up the children’s area, all while keeping an eye on when I am needed for customer service back up. Every once in a while I am unassigned and I need to find things to do. I use the time to search for missing items from a list, or help out with returns or shelving holds, perhaps work on a display I am creating. When the hour is up, I am on to the next spot.  My day flies by in hour increments.

At home, I see a wide space of time. When Ben leaves for school around 7:10, I’m usually sitting in a chair in our living room, finishing up my bible reading (I’m reading through the bible chronologically this year), do my bible study lesson, pray, and often get caught up on social media. Before I know it, it’s 8:30.

I’ll jump up and eat breakfast. Think of the errands I have. Decide when to fit in my walk or workout. 

Do I have time to read this morning? What needs cleaning and organizing? I feel like not doing anything, and more time is wasted.

Since working part time, trying to keep up on household things and volunteer projects combined with not managing my days well, my writing has fallen low on my priority. The tasks I see cry out for my attention over the invisible. The creative. 

Yet, what if I was really meant to be writing?

So today,  I am doing the next right thing.

I’m sitting here at my laptop. I’m writing. I’m making plans for a new blog. I told myself I can do this for thirty minutes.

And I have.

Nothing earth shaking, but it was the next right thing.

Now I’ll hit publish on this page. Head out for a walk and then get ready for work.

Today I wrote. Not a lot, yet more than I was doing.

It was the next right thing. Thanks, Emily.  I don’t have to do everything, just the next right thing. Then the next.  

Tell me in comments if you, too, feel paralyzed with indecision. How do you overcome it?