In the rare times when I've plowed through all the things I have to do—and when I've selfishly taken the time to do the things I really want to do, I still have a big pile of things I should do waiting for me. Sometimes I hate the "should's" even more than the "have to's."

The "should's" are by definition things I don't especially want to do. They are unpleasant or boring or stressful or difficult. Or I know they will take a long time. Or they require decisions. (The first decision is where to start: There are so many of them I don't know which to do first.)

"Should's" usually don't have deadlines, but, again by definition, there might be unpleasant consequences if I don't do them. Sometimes the only unpleasant consequence is I would consider myself a bad person if I didn't do what I thought I should do.

Some of the "should's" are here all the time. A few examples are exercising, filing, and trying new recipes. It's always easy to put those off.

My current "should's" range from having the oil changed in my car to writing letters to aunts. I took time to work in my yard this afternoon because I wanted to and saw a whole season's worth of things I should do out there this year. I'm running out of time to plant the vegetables, so soon that will change from a "should" to a "have to." I know many other gardening "should's" will be abandoned by the end of the season.

Tonight I should pay some bills and answer some family history correspondence. Mail won't go out until tomorrow, so that's a good excuse to put off the bills. Normally working on family history is something I want to do, but  responding to this correspondence is going to require some research and some work (figuring out how to create a file of just one branch of the family), so I've been putting it off. I'll be mad at myself if I don't get at least one of these "should's" done this evening if something comes up tomorrow that I have to do. That's how my "should" pile got as big as it is now.

I hate the "should's."