So here I am, stuck in neutral. It’s 7:50 AM and I’m watching last night’s TV programs on hulu. Here’s the funny part of that – it’s on Brothers and Sisters’ Episode #7 that Sarah says she’s stuck in neutral and Kitty wants to know what’s holding her back. That’s what’s triggered my thoughts today.
When I drove vehicles with manual transmissions, I would put it in neutral to coast downhill (thought it would save gas or something). What I also knew, though, was that once it was in neutral, it was also basically “out of control” – that is, if it’s in gear, one can slow down if the gear is low enough, or one can speed up, if the gear is high enough. So given that information, I was very careful when coasting downhill to make sure that I maintained control of the vehicle at all times. After all, I didn’t want to go careening off the side of the hill or something.
Now that I feel like my life is in neutral, what am I doing to make sure that I’m maintaining control of it? Here’s what I do every day before 9 AM:
- get up every morning about the same time every day
- feed the dog and cat
- straighten up the tortoise shell
- make coffee or maté tea
- take a shower, dry my hair
- eat breakfast
- catch up on emails and Facebook
- watch a hulu TV show or two
Sounds like I’m pretty busy in the first couple of hours every morning, doesn’t it? Actually, I am. I also think about what I want to call my new website and how it’s going to look. I think about what I want to narrow it down to. I think about what I’m going to do for the rest of the day.
For the first time in a long time, maybe in forever, I found myself bored yesterday evening. Bored! Yes, bored. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I think I’ve been bored in my life. And it always related to being in neutral. Neutral is boring. Being in gear, whether it’s a low gear or a high gear, always seems to indicate that something is going to happen. Either I’m going to be going slower or I’m going to be going faster.
I’m thinking that it’s time to put the ol’ life back in gear and see what that gets me. Frankly, I’ve always preferred the higher, faster gears but I’m happy with any gear that gets me out of neutral!