Thinking about my work versus doing my work; Bruce Lee quote; make a concrete step

Today I’m thinking about pedagogy and different ideas for my classes. The beginning of the semester usually stirs in me a combination of emotions. Excitement, mixed with a touch of anxiety, combine to produce enough fear to motivate me into action.

I’ve always had a penchant for thinking about what I need to do, often much longer than truly necessary to prepare myself for action. I tend to wrap myself in a comfortable blanket of thoughts…thoughts about what I want to do, why it is good to do, and whether I can or should do it at this point in my life. Is the action appropriate to take, and if so, what do I stand to gain or lose from doing so? I wonder if I am well-equipped to take on the action at hand. If not, I wonder when I will feel like I can bring enough of myself to the task in order to not short change it. I want to be as great as the task at hand, otherwise I don’t honor the work enough.

It seems honorable to honor work. After all, I’ve read that there is no work that is beneath me. All work is good and worthy. I need to be proud of whatever work I do. I can spend hours and days in this circle of thinking about work. It’s tiring, even more tiring perhaps, than the work itself. What if I think about the work so much that I’m too exhausted to actually do anything? I suppose that could happen. Actually, to be honest with myself and the reader, it has happened many times to me. I ponder how I should change this pattern in my life. Can I truly change the pattern? Is it appropriate to change this pattern now, or should I change it later? What do great thinkers say about changing this pattern in their lives? Should I espouse their philosophy, or develop my own about changing life patterns? Oh, my gosh! I’m doing it again! Now I’m thinking about thinking about work. When will I simply get in gear and do the work? Why am I afraid to do the work? Do I think I’m not able, or am I a fraudster? Imposter syndrome is, indeed, real. I should re-read the great article I came across the other day. That might help me get ready to do the work. No, it won’t.

What if I thought about work while I was actively engaged in the work itself? What if I defaulted to action, and thought in the midst of the action itself? Then I would get stuff done AND get to think about it. This is, perhaps, why I love this “100 days of writing” commitment so much. I default to the work of writing. Sometimes I’m not sure what I will write, but it develops while I’m writing. The ideas are birthed at the keyboard, and start to grow on the screen. They might become fully formed today, or they might have to wait patiently for other words to usher them into adulthood. None of this would happen if I only thought these thoughts without writing them down. They become living ideas because of my work…not because of my thoughts.

Bruce Lee, the famous philosopher and martial artist wrote: “If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done. Make at least one definite move daily toward your goal.”
Since this is a Parkinson’s blog, I don’t want to disappoint the reader by not looping back to PD. How does this apply for people with Parkinson’s (PWP)? There might be blatant lessons we can glean, or perhaps they are more subtle in your life. For me, the “one definite move daily” is sometimes all I can muster. I might be fatigued and unable to move, but I need to “make at least one definite move daily toward my goal”. Today’s move might be difficult, but tomorrow’s move might get a little easier. Before I know it, I might be making two moves or three or four. I might be moving for 30 minutes or 45 or 60! I might grow to believe that I can, indeed, move mountains. I might run a marathon, or perhaps just show up to play ball with my grandson. Whether it is great or small, my one move daily will help me arrive at a goal. Every goal, much like work, is honorable and deserves to be pursued. May your moves get you where you want to go today. May they continue to build tomorrow and the next day, as well.

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Day 18: August 17, 2023
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