Living by Cliche's

Day 37 of 365 Tiny Changes

My name is Linda, and I am a back slider.

If only there were Back Slider Anonymous meetings I could attend, to help me get back on track.  But, alas, I am on my own, to find my way back to the top of the slide.  I can’t help it, when I picture the words back slider, I see a little kid going down a long curly slide back first, with a freaked out expression on his face, because he can’t see where he’s going and doesn’t know when the slide will end and he’ll hit the ground, butt first.

That’s kind of how I feel.  I just spent the last 2 days suffering from total exhaustion.  It’s that whole possible Fibromyalgia/possible Celiac Disease thing.  I threw all caution to the wind and didn’t get the sleep I need and ate anything that looked good.  I definitely paid the price.  When will I learn?

Zig Ziglar tells this story about a Million Dollar Horse.  It goes something like this...Let’s say you had this race horse that you knew was a real winner.  I mean a real winner.  This horse was going to win purses in the millions.  How would you treat this horse? 

Would you keep the horse up late watching mindless TV?  Would you take the horse out bar hopping with you until the wee hours of the morning, drinking and partying too much, so that he had a hang over in the morning?  Would you feed your million dollar horse potato chips and Pepsi?  Would you let the horse lounge around in his stall all day, doing nothing, just hangin’ out?

The answer is a resounding NO!  If you had a horse that you knew could bring in over $1,000,000 you would pamper that horse.  You would tuck it in to it’s nice comfy stall early every night, so it could get just the right amount of rest.  You would feed it the best feed on the market.  You would make sure it had just the right balance of exercise and play.  You would hire the best horse doctors and health care managers.  You would really care for this horse.

Well, I don’t have a horse, but I sure do feel like I was rode hard and put up wet!  If you’re not familiar with horses, this is a very bad, unhealthy, way to treat a horse.

If I wouldn’t treat a horse this way, why do I treat myself this way?  Over my life time I will bring in over $1,000,000 in income.  So far, it hasn’t come in the form of a large purse, but in biweekly increments, that over the last forty years,  (I started babysitting regularly, at the wee age of 10)  has added up to a pretty impressive amount. 

I wonder how much more I would have earned if I had taken care of myself, properly.  How many more raises and promotions would I have gotten had I been operating at 100% a lot more often than I did.  It’s a question I’ll never know the answer to.  All I can do is move forward from here.

No more sitting at the top of a slide, facing backward.  I think I’ll just stay away from slides all together.  Never was a fan of the curly ones, anyway.

If I’m going to take the time and the effort to climb to the top of something, I’m going to do my best to stay there, not slide, willy, nilly, down to the bottom, so that I have to make the climb all over again.  I’m too old for that, and my joints are less appreciative of the climb.

As I’ve mentioned previously, I am going to launch 2 businesses this year.  This isn’t the first time I’ve launched a business, so I am aware of the work involved.  To guarantee a successful first year I can’t back slide, even a little bit.  It takes 100% forward motion to get a business off the ground. 

I read somewhere that Bill Gates, worked every day but Christmas Day for the first 5 years he was in business.  Look where that got him.

Norman Rockwell worked 6 days a week from 8 AM to 5PM and 4 hours on Sundays and holidays, for his entire career.  Look where that got him.

I applaud the focus of these men, and am convinced that they were able to work these grueling hours because they loved what they were doing. 

The businesses I intend to launch are based in the work I love to do, too.  To be able to put forth the effort and hours needed to be successful, I must get the things that keep a household running under control, even habitual.  That is what so many of the tiny changes I have been working on are all about. 

Today, I am going to get back on track and continue to work through my daily to do list.  I’ve gotten a bit of a late start, and am obviously over a week behind, but I am confident that by following the schedule I have been developing, I will be caught up in a day or two...well, maybe three.

All those old cliche’s ring true.  When you fall off a horse, get up, brush yourself off, and get back on.  When you drop the ball, pick it up.  If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, again.  Just do it.

Today, I’m living by cliche's.

Tiny Change 37:  Never give up on myself.  Never give in to myself.  Instead, give more of myself.

What do you do when you find yourself moving backward instead of forward?

Best Regards,

Linda

Tiny Blessing of the Day:  I am blessed to have a son who is willing to step in and help when I am feeling under the weather.