Just Do It

If you have the dubious pleasure of knowing me you’ll know that I’m full-on, 100mph, non-stop, all the time. I don’t know the meaning of the word relax. A Duracell bunny with no off switch. It’s like my foot is constantly on the gas, flat out, fifth gear, let’s ‘ave it! There are some bonuses to being hyper – I get stuff done, for a start. My motto has always been: “If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing quick.”

This can be hard on those more laid-back people in my life, who are constantly imploring me to “take a chill pill,” as I babble incoherently as soon as my eyes ping open at 6am, my monkey-mind buzzing and spinning like a whirling dervish. I have been known to crank up the heating in my house full-blast in an attempt to boil people from their beds at the crack of dawn just so I can talk at them. How annoying is that? I bet my ex enjoys lying in til lunch now that I’m no longer around to pull that particular stunt. My assistant at work takes one look at me hurtling towards him in the mornings and reaches straight for his supersized can of Monster, downing it in one in an attempt to keep up.

The downside to being a fiery ball of nervous energy is a tendancy towards adrenal burnout as I spin about in the unbecoming manner of a coked-up Tasmanian Devil tornado…

Although I can claim to get stuff done, you’ll notice I didn’t mention anything about the quality of the job, did I?

The classic hyperactive trait of being flighty also carries through to my inability to focus on anything for more than about 30 seconds. I have the attention span of a gnat. With ADHD. Who’s just consumed too many E-numbers.

Funnily enough though, when it comes to having fun, my attention span increases dramatically. Ask me to dance all night long, or be the last girl standing at the bar, no problemo! This girl’s got stamina in the shenanigans department. But something studious (ie tedious) and requiring long-term concentration? Forget it!

Unfortunately this characteristic of leaping headlong from one thing to the next often transfers onto things I actually enjoy doing too, although it’s more a fear of rejection, rather than the fidgets which gives rise to procrastination and not seeing the task through. My inner voice is worse than any playground bully ever was – how frustrating that it’s usually OURSELVES telling us we can’t do something, that we’ll be no good at it? A quote I try to remember is “If you believe you can or believe you can’t, either way you’re right.”

The reason for this post? To quote Nike billboards the world over and holler, “JUST DO IT!” rather than mumbling “Just Do It Later.”

It took me about 30 years to have the balls to do what I love, ie writing, and then another 10 to pluck up the courage to actually share it. Partly due to my fickle nature (I’ve started writing numerous books and never got past the second chapter), but mostly due to the fear of it being utter drivel and boring people senseless.

Only now through the beauty of social media can I write something, silently repeating to myself that I’m worthy whilst my finger hovers over the delete button….then take a deep breath, say “just do it” in my head and hit ‘publish’ instead. I’m basically writing for the love of it, and if another human being can pass a few minutes of their dreaded daily commute enjoying reading it, then that’s a Brucie bonus. Okayyyy, so I haven’t figured out how to make any actual moolah from my writing yet, but hey, one step at a time. Maybe in another 10 years, eh?

So if you’re wondering “should I, shouldn’t I….” do something, whatever it is, I say DO IT! DO IT NOW! (Unless the thing you’re contemplating involves maiming or murder, then maybe give that one a miss, no matter how annoying your boyfriend/mother-in-law/boss may be. I don’t fancy being cited in a lawsuit).

Without trotting out too many tired old cliches, I reckon you only regret the things you DON’T do. You don’t need me to remind you that life is ridiculously short, passing by in the blink of an eye. I hope I haven’t wasted too many precious minutes of yours with this self-indulgent rambling. Whilst I still feel vaguely uncomfortable sharing my innermost thoughts with the judgemental masses, I’ve come to the conclusion that you just gotta do what makes you happy. Life’s too short for anything else.

So if I’ve bored you that’s fine by me, ’cause hopefully it might mean that you’ll take your face out of your iPhone and go and do something you’ve been meaning to do but have been putting off for whatever reason.

Off you go now, run along…

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