Overwhelmed, productive, grateful, regretful, joyful, loving, resentful, confidence, inadequacy, fear, excitement. These are some of the feelings I’ve been experiencing recently. I find myself cycling through them one after the other or experiencing a bunch of them simultaneously. I don’t know which way the wind is blowing and it’s really uncomfortable!

Wouldn’t it feel amazing to simply live my life without analyzing my emotions or thoughts? How freeing it would be to not wonder if I should be doing more at times or feel like I’m taking on too much at other times. How much more energy I’d have to simply experience life if I didn’t focus on guilt, resentment, or disappointment (my own or someone else’s). I’d be living my very best life if I didn’t stop to picture what failing would feel like.

Are there people who live a less examined life? Seriously, I’m asking. Do you? Do you know someone who does? Is it possible to act and not internally debrief? How would that affect my psyche, moods, and ability to live the life I desire? Or perhaps a nervous stomach or headache?

On the one hand it sounds deliciously freeing – like the kind of freedom that motivates people to live off the grid or at least lessen the noise by moving to a less populated town, island, or boat. On the other hand, I’m not sure my life would feel as satisfying if I wasn’t making deliberate choices throughout my day.

I chose to spend hours cleaning out the garage the other day. I decided that it would help with my feeling of overwhelm. And it really did. If I hadn’t pre-analyzed my feelings, would I have ever gotten to that chore? On the other hand, by deciding to spend the day doing that, I ignored some other things I could have enjoyed or gotten off of my to-do list. As I do, whenever I think of the other things I might have been doing, I remind myself that this was a good choice. I provide evidence – I now feel productive and organized. I feel happy and proud when I enter the garage. Do some people clean out a garage and just move on?

Socrates is quoted as saying, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” I suppose there is a balance between just going through the motions and making sure that everything we do aligns with our values and intentions. I think I’ll analyze that for a while.