Ok, so now it's time for my dissertation.. which I promised to post on Monday.. about getting things done. I had a breakthrough moment on Sunday, while I was taking a walk and this is the basic gist of it.
I am tired of systems and schedules. They just don't work for me. Ever. Period. They make me annoyed at myself and the system. Just like most everyone (I think??!) there are lots of things that I feel guilty about- that I don't get enough vegetables, or exercise, or that I don't spend enough time on planning my classes, I don't read my Bible enough, I don't know my students well enough, I don't save enough money, and on and on and on. In the past, whenever I get overly annoyed with one thing or another, I sit down and I decide on how I will forever change this aspect of my life.
For instance, Sunday was a beautiful day. It made me want to go outside and walk. Then I started thinking about how little I exercise. And suddenly I had this urge to sit down and write out a detailed walking schedule for myself. And within 2 seconds of that thought, I had already given up on my theoretical schedule because I knew I wouldn't stick with it.
So then I started thinking- maybe, for me at least, it isn't about changing forever. Maybe it's about making a somewhat better choice right now, in the moment. So on Sunday, when it was nice, I chose to go for a walk. Did I accomplish the American Heart Association's recommendation of "30 minutes of moderate intensity activity five days of the week"? No. But I did one day, and that's better than nothing.
Instead of trying to find time to sit down to grade a whole week's worth of student work and tests, I will sit down and grade one or two papers while dinner is cooking, or during homeroom.
That is why I decided to do Veggie week. I am not going to try to get 3-5 servings of vegetables or whatever. Instead, I will start with one a day.
It's all about making a somewhat better choice each time I have the opportunity to do so. Maybe this is just another version of the old 'baby steps'. Maybe not. But it makes sense for me.
Hey, someone else who hates schedules! I totally sympathize! I'm homeschooling, and I keep thinking, maybe we need a schedule...then the baby poops and whoosh, the schedule's toast :D There are just so many random things that happen all the time that disrupt a schedule. I'm discovering that daily goals work better for me at this time. As long as there are only a few of them! I have to be realistic when I have little ones, seems like I'll just get started doing something, and someone makes a mess, or has an "emergency", or has a meltdown over the unfairness of life! That's just the way it is for now! Anyway, keep on keeping on, just like you said at the very last part. I like the Patch the Pirate song (I hear a LOT of those right now :) "little by little, inch by inch, by the yard it's hard, by the inch it's a cinch".....
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