Tenacity

Day 4 of 365 Tiny Changes

I woke up this morning and took a look around my bedroom, thought I must be having a nightmare, laid back down and closed my eyes, hoping I would “wake up” again to a bright sunshiny day with a lovely, neat and organized room.

Opened my eyes again, and thought, “Wasn’t Halloween 2 weeks ago?”   No, it wasn’t the reflection of my face in the mirror...it was the complete wreck of a room that I have been living with for weeks.

It’s not the type of wreck you might think, being a bedroom.  You know, clothes strewn about, shoes under the bed, unmade bed.  (Accept right then it was unmade, because I was in it.) 

The mess I have is from a reorganizing effort.  Yes, it’s true.  In order to reorganize, one must create complete havoc in the process.  The trick is, not to get stuck there.  Which obviously I am.

Guy and I chose to share a domicile in January of 2005.  Since that time I have slowly been bringing the “stuff” from my house, in Phillipsburg, into our house, in Hamilton.  My intent was to sort through the “stuff”, choose who had the better “thing” and sell, donate, gift...the left over.

You try doing this with the things of a man who has a sentimental attachment to EVERYTHING!  For example, I have a Cuisinart, metal and glass, blender that can blend a rock into sand...he has a Kmart, plastic, blender that can’t blend water.  In my book, Cuisinart wins.  In his book...but my Mother’s, brother’s, aunt, gave me that 13 years ago, as a going away present, before she left for the Arctic Circle, so it’s special.

My answer.  Take a picture, and give the thing away.

Don’t get me wrong, I do have a sentimental part in my heart.  But, most of the time I quell it, with logic.  We have 2 complete households of “stuff” to merge.  In my opinion the better “stuff” wins.  More cost effective, and efficient.  We only have so many square feet, and yes, I like to be able to move freely in my square footage, not along designated paths amongst mounds of boxes.

Until recently the answer has been, my stuff stays in boxes, or we have 2 of everything out to use.

It’s taken 5 years, but he has finally given in to my way of thinking.  Mostly because I have convinced him that if we can get the boxes out of the garage, he can part his truck in there.  And if we can get the boxes out of the basement, we can turn it into a media heaven.  We have two neighbors that have done this, and he has seen and enjoyed their spaces, so now he wants one of his own.  (Sometimes I appreciate the idea of keeping up with the Jones.)

So, back to the bedroom.  Our bedroom is actually our bedroom/office.  I HATE this combination.  I do find it hard to relax when I have office stuff staring at me.  (Yes, paperwork can stare at you, and it never blinks first.)

We had paperwork/files, in the garage and in the basement and in our bedroom.  Admittedly, some of it was from 1999.  That is the project I am working on.

My thinking.  Take all of the paperwork we had stashed in other areas and move it to the bedroom/office, where I would get so sick of tripping over it that I would sort it and re-file it.

Problem.  It is amazing how many other things I can find to do other than sort through paperwork.

Solution.  Tenacity.

I stepped out my front door to get my mail this morning and was greeted by my beautiful rose bushes, still in bloom.  We have had at least a dozen nights down close to freezing and 2 or 3 frosts, but my rose bushes continue to bloom.  That is tenacity!

They have a job to do, and they are doing it come drought, or freezing temperatures.  They are offering their beauty for as long a physically possible.

I feel like a lazy, slob, being outdone by a rose bush.

I’ve been reading a book that mentioned Thomas Edison.  I already know the story about the 10,000 tries to invent the light bulb.  I didn’t know that when he formed his company he had a guiding principal of one small invention every 10 days and one large invention every 6 months.  Talk about tenacity.  This is why he is one of the most prolific inventors in history.  The other reason is that he has a team that was committed to this guiding principal.  It’s amazing what can be accomplished in numbers focused on the same purpose.

Well, I don’t have a team to work with me, but I can be tenacious just the same.

Besides the paperwork mountain, I have many, many, many unfinished projects, stashed here and there.  In fact, I’ve got unfinished projects from Hamilton to Phillipsburg.  That’s a 70 mile spread.  I would venture to say that I am probably the “Queen of Unfinished Projects”.

I think that, perhaps, I may be using these unfinished projects to keep me from finding and reaching my “definite major purpose” for being here on earth.  (A term coined by Napolean Hill.)

I think that, maybe, if I cleared all the clutter of these unfinished projects out of my life, I may have time to find and focus on what is really important to me.

Wow, just what kind of impact might I be able to make if I didn’t have such a long “to do” list?

I am going to fix this.  I will not be outdone by a rose bush.  I will use Edison’s plan and get these projects completed.  One little project every 2 weeks, one big project every 6 months.

Tiny Change 4:  Work on one unfinished project every day, long enough to get it finished in 2 weeks time.

What stuff do you have in your life that is holding you back from being the best you can offer the world?

Best regards,

Linda