Julie FordAfter the blizzard of ’11 (or “snowmageddon”, as some called it), it took about 3 days to truly dig out of the drifts. My own “digging out” may well take weeks.
I’m not buried in snow. I’m buried in an office filled with unfinished business. Five months ago, my steady contract work ended with a great company. I had been consulting with members of the ever-growing jobless population, helping them recharge their resumes and spirits. It was a great steady stream of interesting people who were more or less in the same boat of “what next?”
That was 5 months ago. Just today I recycled a whole stack of useless paperwork from that endeavor. It was as if a spring breeze swept through my office when I let the chunk of paper plunk to the bottom of the bin.
After basking in the freshness, I sifted through folders of obsolete information about groups to which I once belonged. Newsletters from my eldest daughter’s preschool teacher (my daughter’s nearly 9), out-of-date directories from church, old school newsletters and obsolete sales catalogs – dumped. Ahhh.
I now have a stack of things to be filed, but am pleased to report that the recycling bin received far more paper than what remains in that stack. I’m still reeling from the tornado aftermath, where I often ask myself, “would it truly matter if this had been sucked up and blown away in that cyclone?”
I consolidated various lists of unfinished business, dividing out separate lists for business, home, kids, health and now school. (I’m finishing up there, too!)
Great ideas are everywhere, it’s often hard to choose what to give up and what to begin. There are only so many hours…
I’ve been observing that the act of finishing is a huge value of mine. It’s much stronger than I’d given credit. Satisfaction lives within it, win or lose. I’m also noticing to be cautious about the guilt that ensues when I’m faced with ongoing unfinished business.
Can laundry ever truly be finished? Or recording children’s growth in words and photos or letter writing or giving gratitude or learning new things? Heavens, I’d hope not. It’s not possible unless we wear the same thing daily or never take notes or correspond or give thanks, or heaven forbid… we think we know all there is to know!
So today, I dig in after digging out. I savor this moment and vow to finish what’s important and be more loving and gentle about that which will hopefully remain unfinished for years to come.
Where will you start finishing?
