Have you ever made the difficult decision to stop doing something you truly enjoy for the opportunity to embark on a venture that you hope would lead to greater personal rewards, growth, or both? This was my situation for the past several months.
Happy Holidays HPB Followers!
Some of you may have wondered why there haven’t been any recent posts on the Health-promoting Bandwagon or why there were fewer posts for several months. The reason stems from an unexpected but necessary need to take a break from HPB for all of July, most of August and September, and all of October and November. This sacrifice involved my decision to pursue professional development opportunities related to my day job as a talk therapist and rehabilitation specialist. But I stumbled along the way with great frustration before coming to this decision. And here’s why.
A Single-tasking Hiatus
Like many others, I’m one who attempts to juggle various tasks at once. I tend to believe I possess an infinite ability to multitask anything that comes my way. The outcome of such an endeavor? It usually involves being slowed down, redoing tasks, being less creative, and, ultimately, hitting a brick wall, face first. I then clear my head and attempt to identify any missteps before realizing that I’m more likely to ensure a thorough and successful completion by staying focused on an individual task. I find this to be particularly the case with vocational (and sometimes family) endeavors that require much of my cerebral (and emotional) attention. For anyone doubting the potential drawbacks of multitasking, there’s research that bears out this finding when it comes to multitasking versus single-tasking. (Read this informative article in the Houston Chronicle on the benefits of focusing on an individual task).
Self-sacrifice for Self-betterment
In life, we sometimes need to make a sacrifice in the name of self-improvement. But the decision to make a sacrifice does not always come easy. We are creatures of habit after all. And it is our tendency to ponder on the immediate consequence of such a decision when what we’re really doing is maintaining the immediate gratification of an enjoyable activity.
Writing indeed fits the bill when it comes to doing something I enjoy. This is why it felt odd to go for two months without writing anything. It’s the longest gap between blog posts since the launching of HPB. And it has pained me to see such a gap, as writing on this blog is both a therapeutic escape and a rewarding opportunity to impart health-promoting information. Yet, I anticipate that this hiatus ultimately will enable me to devote a greater amount of uninterrupted time to blogging in the New Year. Thus, I see this as a gains-outweighing-the-cost type of situation. And, hopefully, you will see this as well. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once stated, “Self-sacrifice is the real miracle out of which all the reported miracles grow.”
Stay tuned for new posts in the New Year. And thank you for your patience and understanding.
Best,
Pedro Antonio
Photo credit: flickr.com
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