I’ve done my time in the Covid lockup and am feeling better. I’ve been ill most of January and early February. As each wave hit, I took it in with grace, knowing there was little I could do to fight it.

It’s just been good to sit on our back porch, to breathe in the warm air and feel the hot sun. We’ve slowed our pace of life down to a crawl while in isolation. Only recently did we have the nerve to go through a drive-thru to pick up dinner.

But now life is ramping up again, and I’m caught between enjoying the slower pace of the last few weeks and embracing the pent-up responsibilities that have been ignored. All the calls of “I’ll talk with you soon” are being cashed in. Goals I had for January are coming due in February.

And then I remembered my word for the year: Freedom.

Hmm…how does that fit? Do I have the freedom to choose not to do things even though I no longer have the excuse of illness?

Freedom is a two-way street – I’m free to choose to do something that commits time and energy and freedom to choose not to commit or even back out of a commitment.

But that is hard! Everyone likes you when you commit to do something. You become their friend. But what do they think of you when you back away or say you can’t fulfill their expectations? That’s tough to do.

More importantly, how much do I like myself when I’m able to do more and more? How do I feel when I have to confess that I can’t do what I expect of myself?

But those times come for whatever reason. Does “freedom” also apply to those times?

Maybe this is a good time to use my freedom to re-evaluate my commitments. Am I overly committed? What would I change if I am free to do so?

Hmm…good things to think about. But then I realized I was tired from the project I worked on this morning and the two Zoom calls I had already been on. And I have to prep for the consulting dinner I’ve got on for tonight.

I think I’ll use my “freedom” to take a nap!

Comment: What are you overly committed on? What are you going to do about it?