Stop Thinking and Just Do It

This week I got a kick in the pants on something that seems so basic and simple Nike made a whole very successful ad campaign out of it.

Just do it.

Here’s the background. Winter turns me into a sloth. I am not a high-energy person to begin with, an Enneagram 9 if you’re speaking that language, and I absolutely detest being cold. Even with our thermostat set at 70F, I walk around with icy hands and feet all the time, all winter long. Once I am at home, I look at the piles and mess of our family of six all around me…and ignore them. I’ll take a nap or a bath to warm up, read a book under a pile of blankets, or read Facebook statuses until the cows (or kids) come home. I can be a normal person when I am outside of the house — I exercise, talk to people, go grocery shopping — but once I’m inside, all semblance of normalcy seems to fall aside. I’m. Just. Cold. 

So I asked in an Enneagram Facebook group I belong to about self-motivating during the winter months. I received a vast array of responses, some helpful and some just sympathetic. Most prominent was the advice to seek out hygge and to get outside more, thus making the house feel warmer. (It would be easier to go outside if it hadn’t rained 80% of the days since Christmas, amiright?)

But one piece of advice struck me the hardest. Basically, the woman said, “Stop thinking and just do the things.” 

Well. Huh.

I’m an introvert and a major thinker. It often takes me some effort to get all the words out of my brain and onto this screen in front of me, or to actually say them to another person. One of the best things to come out of a recent string of therapy visits was the realization I don’t have to be controlled by my brain and thoughts. I can redirect my thoughts or simply refuse to go down a thought train that is hurtful or brings anxiety. 

To say I am an overthinker may be putting it gently.

This woman’s advice to “Just do it,” to stop thinking, felt a little like a sucker punch. Could I actually do that? Instead of fretting over the million things to be done, could I just get up and do them?

Yes, actually, it appears that I can. 

This week, instead of sitting and thinking about how the dishes needed to be washed, I’ve just stood up and done them as soon as they cross my mind. I’ve made to-do lists and checked off the items. I’ve listed a bunch of items on Poshmark, actually written on my own blog, got the oil changed in our van, and unloaded the dishwasher. Is the house perfect? Certainly not. Have I also read under blankets and taken baths? You bet. But my state of mind feels so much better. Instead of being trapped in a jungle of worries and thoughts, I feel like I’m on the right path. 

It’s simple. Too simple. But maybe you needed this encouragement too. You are strong and capable, Mama. You get to be in control of your head and your actions. That thing you’re dreading? Just do it. I promise it will feel so much better if you do.