I’m Not Waving
If we’re not careful, breathing easy may not be as simple as it should be. Recently this became obvious to me when I began work on a large project.
I’ve been procrastinating on this project for quite some time and noticed I’d been holding my breath while I began my preparations. Why was I holding my breath as if I was underwater, and did you notice I wrote “large” project? Ha - like that adverb would provoke tea and sympathy from anyone reading this. Hmmm, a therapist would have a field day with me today.
I love to begin new projects – large or small. The planning, the list-making, the excitement of a new adventure; then about one week later I’m ready to pass it off to my assistant. Wait a minute, I don’t have an assistant. I’m the assistant. One baby step at a time. Do a little bit, and a little bit and a little bit to chisel away at the project. Don’t start new projects until the current ones are fully completed. This is great advice; I just don’t always heed my own warnings.
At last count, I have three projects in the works, and that’s a conservative number for me. I can keep track of how many projects are my “WIP” (Work In Progress) projects by the number of yellow legal pads I have strewn in prominent places around my home. There’s that great spot at the Kitchen table – my corner, there’s the obvious nightstand spot, and don’t forget the coffee table! But those are the “great ideas” that I’m working out, and they need whole pads of paper. How do I count the bursts of inspiration, the ones in my head that haven’t come to fruition yet? Well, those are on small scraps of paper and they’re all over the place. I also like post-it notes, except they have a tendency to get stuck to things that get tossed out. Did I mention I needed an assistant?
When this pattern of self-abuse starts, and it is self-abuse if you don’t finish things you start, it’s time to breathe, really breathe. Speaking of tea, go make yourself a cup of hot or a glass of cold and sip and breathe for 20 minutes. It will clear your head and then you can get a better perspective on how you may wish to approach your project(s). Sometimes, only sometimes, the project hits the shredder. In that case, cut your losses and be grateful, I try to be.
Not to worry; maybe it’s a sign of genius, wasn’t Einstein a tad absent-minded? I can only pray that I’m not destined to be one of those little old ladies who collects papers and books and such and has them in every room, all over her house.
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