Make it in a go-to cup; Ditching to-do lists

This cafe has a big glass door, and I have started to expect a warm and welcoming “heyy, how are you, ma'am?”, with a big smile on his face - as soon as I reached the handle with a “push sign”. In half panic, wondering, if I’m supposed to really push or pull the door for it to be open - I go "heyyyy, I am good, how are you?" like there isn't a person happier than me on this planet - and it's true. If we see only the moment we are in, I have woken up fresh, had a good morning skincare routine, and came to have a coffee, which I at some point, and many are not able to afford, is all we can ask for. A clearly visible push sign will always get me wondering what it really means.

I don’t know how it took me two years, living here, and not to find this cafe sooner. Ugh! As I leave this place soon, I wonder if it’s a good thing that I didn’t find this place sooner, or else it would have just been another place that I had used as a comfort blanket, to fight through what drags me down, deep - and I would have just hated the walls around it.

He: Would you have the same or want to try something new?

Iced vanilla latte it is, I’m dinning-in, but . . . “make it in a go-to cup”, he interrupted, completing my sentence.

Yes, please. Thank you.

I don’t know, coffee just seems better when you have it with a straw - to me, but I do understand personal preferences.

As I opened my pocket notebook to write my to-dos for the day - because that’s what we do after getting the first coffee of the day - and to my surprise, the only thing from yesterday’s to-do that I got done was “coffee”.

It is my usual time, but why there are so many people here today? Two Arabs and an African guy wouldn’t stop laughing about . . something . . . they surely find funny.

Well, if nothing else, at least I have one thing checked off of my list from yesterday. It wasn’t surprising that I didn’t follow my to-do, let alone I did not do even one thing from it, except have coffee.

If hasn’t been for how I have evolved(which is a continuous process) through my own limitations, and stressors over time, I would have beaten myself up for not completing my to-do list to the point that I’d have to sleep it off. For us, it’s actually not about following a list but doing anything - that is everything except taking a break or treating ourselves, or forgiving ourselves for not being able to do certain things that we were supposed to do.

Why does taking care of our own selves does not count as an important task?

“Here, you go ma’am”, shook me to my senses, as he brought my coffee to the table. Putting the tissue as a coaster, adjusting my cup of coffee to my right, I, for the first time, told myself, "it was okay" - and not because of all the long-gone suffering that still burns in its own ashes somewhere inside me, or for that matter of fact that I deserve or need it - but for the fact that “it is okay to not have your to-do list followed exactly the way it is.”

Maybe, it’s Saturday today - that’s why there are so many people, I thought to myself - It’s a day off, everyone wants to have a good cup of coffee outside, sit and talk, meet their friends - that's what life is all about.

It’s either doing things when scheduled, or later sometimes, but not at all fretting over the fact that you had it written in Friday’s focus, and it’s Saturday today!

That one missed task still made me think so much(lol) that I realized, sometimes, journaling, and having to-do lists can become tiring, and stressful rather than organizing your day or thoughts - leading to mental fatigue, making it difficult to focus on the present moment.

But seriously, the constant pressure to keep up with a never-ending stream of entries and tasks can trigger feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and anxiety.

It's essential to recognize that journaling and to-do lists are tools, not obligations.

They should be used mindfully and intentionally to support one's well-being, not contribute to burnout.

That table is free, should I move there? At least it would be one table distance from these three guys who are not ready to leave anytime soon. But they ain’t saying anything to me - but if just changing tables is worth the peace for the time I have taken to walk 12 minutes(24 collectively to go back as well) in 47 degrees of Dubai weather, then . . . I picked up my stuff and moved to another table . . . I should be doing it - exactly as I should be doing everything else that I feel right in the given moment.

- and you should too. Know that we should credit ourselves for the little things that we do, and that sometimes ditching to do lists isn't bad.

I don't know if it's just that I am leaving this place soon, and I want to cherish all the moments I have here left, or just getting myself ready for the new chapter of my life - every new thing comes with a little fear, but we should not forget that we can always "make it in a go-to cup" wherever we go.

Ditching to-do lists