The Tipping Point

I have always identified with the concept of a tipping point.  I am definitely the sort of person who has no clear idea of just how close I am to the toppling over, and so when one more thing is piled onto my already prodigious workload, boom, I am down.  And I never saw it coming.

It has taken over 50 years, but recently I managed to get a glimpse of just how close I was to that point, and as a result I decided not to do something.  To consciously try to keep myself a little bit back from that ledge.  It was very hard to do.  I was giving up something that I enjoy doing, but would also take up a fair amount of time, and on a regular basis.  So I said no.  Wow.  I am not sure if this will save me from toppling over this time, but it is definitely a step in the direction of admitting and recognizing my limitations (two different things, neither of which I am very good at).

I have a lot of goals for myself this year (which, as I am at an academic institution, means July-June).  One of them was to exercise regularly, and I have been doing a very good job with that (which is another thing that takes up a fair amount of time on a regular basis).  I remains to be seen whether I will be able to manage some of the other things--I really try to have more on my To Do list than I can accomplish, so that I am never fearful of running out.  But this in and of itself is an accomplishment to celebrate.