What’s your project? What’s the first thing that comes to
your mind when you think of something that needs to be done that you’ve been
putting off?
Is it a conversation? A quilt? A painting? A paper? A fantasy
baseball trade? Cutting the grass? A call to Grandma?
There is something that you’ve been putting off. We all do
it. I do it all the time. I’ll wait for someone else to bring up a subject in
conversation for days or weeks just because while I may really want to talk
about it; I may just not feel like talking about it. It’s a conversation that
needs to be had, you know it, you just want to leave it unsaid. That’s not
going to work. Never has worked. Why do we still think it will? Leave a fish on
the counter and it’s going to start to stink. Just leaving it there won’t do
anything.
What I’m getting at here dear reader is that it’s time to
pull out a bag, some paper towels and some cleaner and get that fish off your
counter. My fish was a gnome. Somehow a ceramic gnome came into my possession from
my grandmother about 5 years ago. He was all white and had only his hat and his
pants painted and he was pretty sad looking. I told her I’d paint it for her
and she was really happy to hear this. Of course at the time I just rolled my
eyes and thought, ‘yeah right.’ This poor gnome moved into my mom’s attic at
one house, into my apartment at one point, then into Mom’s garage at another
house. I moved away overseas and then back again and then the gnome ended up
back at my apartment leaned up against a bookcase. Same sad little hat and
pants, paint even more faded and all plain white. Poor little guy.
Well this past weekend, Christina and I were in a crafty
mood and she had two different projects that she was excited about doing:
making a shirt and painting some gourds with a few of her friends. I was also
in the mood to craft but couldn’t find a project. “What about painting your
gnome?” asked Christina. “Naaaah! I don’t want to do that,” I whined in response.
“Why not?”
That’s just it. Why not? Why not go ahead and complete
whatever project you’ve been putting off? If it’s something as simple as a
conversation or something that needs to be said, then just say it. Regardless
of the consequences, the relief of getting it off your chest will be awesome! ‘Hey!
Guy at work! I don’t like the way you address our coworkers. Think about that
and let’s change it.’ ‘Hey you. Yeah you. I love you!’
I’ve got several more fish or gnomes or whatever metaphor
you’re more comfortable with here dear reader. I need to start a check list.
Some items on that list are conversations that need to be had, some are
projects, and one is simply doing nothing for a day just to see how it feels.
The point is: Don’t let something slip up on you and then
act like you didn’t see it coming. Don’t let someone walk away from you with
things left unsaid just because you don’t feel like talking about it. Go find
your project squirreled away in a closet somewhere and complete it. Take it and
do it. Now! Stop reading this and get to it.
Here’s what my gnome looks like after about 2 hours of
painting. I can’t say I’m proud of the way he looks but I can say I’m proud
that I did it.
1 comment:
Isn't there something to be said for piling up "work" on the corner of your desk, letting it be until it absolutely needs to be completed? Sometimes, it needs to be completed. Often, after a goodly amount of time has passed, the work gets pushed into the recycling bin. The lesson here: sometimes the work was never necessary to begin with.
But enough of this advokat dyavola, you are right. If we committ to a project, it is our responsibility to follow through, regardless the "importance" of the work.
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