I’m one of those people who looks at big jobs and becomes immobilized by the enormity of the tasks. Like when we’ve had a super busy week and there is laundry everywhere, the bathrooms are disasters, there is no food in the fridge and some kid says he has a school project due tomorrow. Where do I start? What should I do first? Strangle the kid and THEN start the laundry, or the other way around?
I feel, in that moment, like taking a nap.
Like that would really help.
But I’ve been taking lessons from my “Can Do” friends, like Bridgette, my Lagniappe neighbor. When faced with a daunting task, she dives in with relish and makes something happen. While I’m still deciding on the most efficient way to approach things, then reevaluating my fiindings and consulting with online search engines, she is halfway done and looking for more. I really admire that.
I think her secret is this: she just starts.
It may not be the perfect place to begin, or the perfect time to embark on the task, but she doesn’t let that keep her from making the first move toward getting it done.
I’m borrowing her technique on my Children’s Church project this week. I gulped when I saw the hugeness of the job and just my two little hands and paltry talent to get this done. I had a hard time deciding where to start, so I simply picked up my tools and began taping off. I squelched the urge to run away and opened a can of paint instead.
Does a project or task have you immobilized today? Are you stuck in the valley of indecision and can’t figure out where to start?
Today’s Small Thing is to simply begin. Don’t analyze whether it would be better to start with the dark clothes and work to the whites, but what about the reds....just grab a load and chunk it in. Are you writing a book or preparing a presentation? Start typing out a bad one, rather than waiting for the “perfect” inspiration to hit. If your home looks like a bomb exploded, just get up off the couch and start picking up. Don’t overthink it. Just start it.
POINTS: 50 for climbing out of the valley of indecision by simply STARTING.
What have you been putting off starting? What will you begin today?
PS sorry no cute pictures or Small Thing logos...I''m on my laptop, out of town, and it's late.....
