Ladies,

You can’t do it all at once, something , absolutely,  has to be done first.

Having recently moved, my mind falls into this groove more often than not: Do I unpack this box, or or that one first? Do I re-arrange, or put away?  Today, I was excited to finally put clothes away into my newly un-wrapped dresser…but then suddenly thought, “I should paint it first!”

Well, where did our paint get stashed?   I really don’t have all day to do this, I have to do “work” work, and pay some bills, and oh wait, make food for everyone at some point.  So, if I put this off again, it will be weeks before I actually do something about the clothes….which are currently in piles around the office.  I’m just going to put them in the dresser as is, and then if I have the time and find the paint, I’ll pull them all out again.

Ladies, sometimes our great ideas get in the way of living life.  We can get lost in our dreams of grandeur…which is great!  We need those dreams!  But we also need to learn how to put one foot in front of the other, decide what is most important, and what can wait.

I would love to just clean, decorate, and organize my house for a week…but I can’t put everything else on hold for that.  Clients need things, the dogs need things, the husband needs things…and my still-ill body needs LOTS of things.

We have to give ourselves the grace to know that if we are not sitting staring blankly at the wall, (for more than 10 minutes at least), that you ARE doing things, good job!  Even if what you are doing at the moment doesn’t seem exciting, or world-changing, it actually is.  The world couldn’t keep functioning the way it does without you in it.  Every time you smile at a cashier, every time you feed your dog/child, every time you tell your partner, “good job”, every time you see something out of place and fix it, or correct a typo, or pay a bill, you are helping someone else to do their job, pay their bills, and enjoy their day.  Well done you.

Don’t get overwhelmed.  Make the list so you don’t forget your awesome ideas, then decide what needs to come first.

Our house needs to be organized enough that we can work and rest well.  Then we can do extra things like hang more pictures, paint furniture, and scan paper-work into a back-up folder.  Today, I find homes for the clothes.  Tomorrow I clean the floors. Every day I write, email, tweet, and produce.  One thing at a time, one day at a time, one prayer at a time.

We are all doing it, every day, keep it up ladies!

~ The Captain