I’m a little bored today. I’m feeling a bit drained and under the weather, so I don’t have enough energy to start the spring cleaning in the back room. That doesn’t stop my mind from planning how to get it all done in just one day. With the exception of buying new shelves, I can get it all done: reorganizing the closet, touch-up painting, and putting knick-knacks away to make room for books. I’m getting excited just thinking about it.

I’ve never really been an extremely patient person. But I’m learning to make use of the time at hand. I’m learning that it’s okay to say “Later!” and it’s okay to come up with a plan in the meantime. I’m also learning that it doesn’t do any good to be in a rush for Step One if I know for a fact that Step Two is a little down the road. It can also be a good thing to make sure there’s time between Steps, in case I want to make changes.

Let’s say I want to change around my room. If you’d asked me a month ago, I knew I wanted two bookshelves. I could have bought them before Christmas, and had them sitting in my garage just waiting to be put together and brought in. How stupid would I have felt, then, when last week I saw what I really need: two cube-units from Target. They’re fantastic! Each one has nine cubes in the unit, and you can customize it with fabric or straw baskets. How great is that? Not only is it a sectioned bookcase, but the open shelves will hold the items I want displayed while the bins hold the miscellaneous items I still need access to. See? Waiting on Step One to make sure I know where I want to be for Step Two.

And the Cookbook. The Cookbook! That great little booklet you all know I’ve been working on for quite a while now. I could have found a way to just print a basic recipe collection and had it out there a month or so ago. But I took the time to talk with a few people, and now it’s turning into a really great little cookbook. I’m so much happier with it now than I was even four weeks ago. And we’re still in the development stage! This time has also opened doors for other writings of mine to be published. When I thought Step Two was just printing the Cookbook, it turns out Step One turned me in an entirely different direction. Awesome!

It’s a new adventure for me, this Patience thing. But I’m really loving it. I’m so ready to start Step Two, but I’m not finished with Step One yet. So I get to slow down, think things through, evaluate, make informed decisions, and rest. In the end, I think that’s worth it.

How do you slow yourself down when all you want to do is plough ahead?

And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!

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