It happened again.
I received a lovely email this last week, graciously praising me over the many things this person learned from sitting down and reading the blog this week, getting caught up in reading back posts, writing down a zillion things........and then came the end of the letter.
"But I have to tell you, I simply have not been able to get started. Once I looked at the list, and then thought about it....the amount of time it would take, the many steps I had to take to get one thing done...well, it sort of overwhelmed me, and so I just stuck it in my cookbook and have not looked at it in a couple days. I just don't know how you do it.You must be superwoman to homeschool, and raise twins, and teach piano and...and...and..."
*sigh*
Dear, precious mommy reader who loves to read this blog, who loves to scribble down recipes from The Welcoming House on any scrap of paper that is handy...
Dear precious reader that grabs a cup of coffee every Saturday night and sneaks away to the lap top to catch up on what is going on around here, and who downloads everything to a file titled:
"Things I need to do"...
Dear awesome reader who pins everything I add to Pinterest and sends me little love notes occasionally through the "contact me" button up at the top of the blog, and never, ever does any of it...
I. Don't. Do. Everything. At. Once.
A few years ago, I did not do half of what I do now.
Honestly.
But as my knowledge, and confidence, and experience expands with each new thing...and I get excited and share it with you.....I want to you to catch just a small flame of passion to start something new.
Just. One. Thing.
Do you realize there actually IS a "best way" to eat an elephant?
One bite at a time.
And that is all I do.
Do you also realize that if you chose one single thing every weekend to learn how to do..........at the end of a year you would know how to do, or at least learned a process of doing 52 new things?
What if you chose only one thing a month to learn how to do, something that you had never, ever done before? At the end of that year you would have 12 new things under your belt...and be that much more confident than you were a year before.
What if you chose one new recipe to learn this month?
 |
| Applesauce Spice Cake |
What if you chose to learn how to grow and harvest a certain herb this month, or how to use it for your family?
 |
| Hyssop |
What if you chose to take one tiny step towards being self-sufficient in your home?
 |
| How sweet a gift from a friend can be... |
Sometimes we get so caught up in WANTING to do things, that we never figure out how to get started. We get overwhelmed by the thought, and we start looking at the list, and next thing we know, we are sitting in the closet raiding the kids' leftover parade candy and deep in a chocolate fix to the depression we brought on ourselves.
Not that I would know anything about that, of course.
But I just want to encourage you.
Pick. One. Thing.
Take a step in faith and see what happens.
Don't look back, and don't try to do too much, but get started.
Break it into manageable pieces, whatever that looks like,
and get started.
Five years from now, you will look back, and be astonished at how you have grown from the person you were, to the person you are........you will be blessed to know, and love, and pray for, and encourage many people God has sent to cross your path asking the same questions you were asking those years ago.
And you will be strong, and confident, and doing all sorts of things that make great conversation starters at any party, or mom's gathering, or parent/teacher conference
(because you know your kids will rat you out, right).........
Take that step.
I'm here for you.
Blessings to you and yours,
~Heather
Great advice! I moved here 2 years ago and have added a little bit at a time, working with my hubby, getting involved with church, growing a garden, exploring the town with my son, and then a blog, and now, holy cow, life is full and we are never bored and I'm mostly where I want to be. Sometimes it's hard to take things slow, but it's the best in the long run.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post Heather. You are so right. We all need to remember that it is not about arriving at the destination, but it is about the journey, who we meet along the way and what we learn along the way. A friend of mine used to say that we are not human beings but human becomings. We are all a work in progress. You lay out a very good plan for making progress.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
Thank You for this post. Again, you know right what I need. I too have a "To Do, To Try, To Make" list that is long. I let myself get overwhelmed then I don't do anything new. :-(
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this post - I've decided "One New Thing A Month" and if I do two then great :-) But one sounds very doable. Thanks again, Cindy from Alabama.