Small Things

Little things have been piling up on me lately. I normally don't let things add up on me, in the running of my day-to-day life. I have a running commentary in my brain going on at all times. Endless chatter about how I can most effectively get things accomplished. I am not saying that this is the right way to live ... but it is my way.

Lately, the smallest of things are feeling so huge. I've been putting things off. Which in and of itself isn't bad. But it overwhelms me when it starts to pile up. I don't like a back log of stuff on my mental to-do-list. I think it goes back to my lazy-house-keeping days when I let things slide so badly, that housework became something I dreaded.

Yesterday, I managed to deal with 3 of those trivial tasks. When I say trivial, I am not exaggerating. I made a banana loaf out of some ripe bananas that had been staring at me for days; I baked the potatoes that only had a small shelf life left; and I called to get an address for a letter that I wanted to mail. That's it! Not doing these trivial little tasks was draining my energy.

I have much, much more that I should be tending to, to feel caught up in my life. But I couldn't believe how energized I was, by simply doing these 3 small things. It (almost) makes me want to write up a fresh to-do list, so that I can cross several more things off of that energy draining mental list that is running in the background of my mind.

I spent 4 hours playing 'catch-up' with my book keeping work today. Small little jobs that would take minutes each day. But instead, the pile gets left undone. I have no control over the work flow, with this job. I do whatever work she brings me, when ever she brings it to me. Immediately. I cannot stand unfinished work staring at me, lurking in corners and hidden in a bedroom. It overwhelms me when I have these huge jobs that have piled up over the months ... but it feels so good when it gets done.

Now that I've given myself this pep talk about 'just doing it', when it comes to big jobs, little jobs and every job in between ... I have a big job that I have been wasting my energy not doing!

It is no different than the months of book work that I end up working on. To quote myself, "It would take minutes each day ..." if I worked at it slowly and steadily. Minutes ... compared to hours.

The energy expended not doing something is usually more than simply getting the job done. Just do it!!