After you have completed this task, take a look at the entire week. Where do you see wasted time? Are there tasks you can cut from your routine to give you more time for creative growth? Part of organization is trimming off the excess. What can you do without?
DAY
230
“The trouble with organizing a thing is that pretty soon folks get to paying more attention to the organization than to what they’re organized for.”
— Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura Ingalls Wilder offers one final piece of advice for this section on organization: Make sure you do not lose sight of the big picture.
It’s a great idea to get organized. It will prepare the path for success and also help you get there faster than you would if your life was cluttered. However, sometimes you get so wrapped up in the organization that you forget why you’re organizing in the first place.
This problem is most plainly seen in a corporate setting. Have you ever been a member of a council, a board, or a club that is so wrapped up in the rules of the group that nothing is ever accomplished? It’s extremely frustrating to those members who joined the assembly to make a difference.
You can fall into the same trap personally. Your ultimate goal is to achieve success. Don’t get stuck picking out the right colors for the file folders in your new office or deciding which laptop to buy to record all of your latest creative brainstorms. Those are insignificant pieces of the whole picture.
Do you think you’ve lost sight of the big picture? Take a look at the seven-day map you made on Day 229. How much of that time was spent working directly on achieving success? If it’s less than 50 percent, then you may have detoured away from your true goals. It’s not too late to change your routine. Organization is not the ultimate goal. Success is your objective.
DAY
231
“Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.”
— Buddha
Gratitude is an important attitude no matter what is going on in your life. Even if your current situation sounds like a bad country song—you lost your job, your truck, your significant other, and your dog all in one day—find at least one thing, no matter how insignificant, to be thankful for. It’s important to practice being grateful, even in the bad times, because if you are able to lift up the good things in your life, you open the door for more of the same. On the other hand, if you keep pointing out the rotten stuff and the disappointments, you might become a magnet for even more bad news.
Your assignment today is slightly challenging. Are you up for it? This may take more than one day to complete, but don’t let it run on forever. Try to complete it within a week. Make a list in your journal of 100 things you are grateful for. They can run the gamut from being thankful for the love of family to something as simple as being thankful you woke up that morning. Duplications don’t count. You must come up with 100 different items. This list will be very helpful in the future. It will become a reference for you on bad days.
The quote above says it brilliantly. If you can’t be thankful you learned a lot today, be thankful you learned a little. If you can’t be thankful for your health, be thankful you’re still breathing. There’s always something positive to put on your gratitude list. Some days it’s more difficult to find than others, but it’s always there. Capitalize on the positive aspects of your life, and you will continue to move forward toward success.
DAY
232
“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.”
— Albert Schweitzer
Terri could feel the light within her slowly going out, but she didn’t have any idea what to do about it. She had always loved horses and had been a successful competitor in national horse shows since her teen years. But it was a costly hobby, and she just didn’t have the money to continue in her mid-twenties. She now had young children who came first. There was no way she could justify spending thousands of dollars on horses and leave her daughters wanting. So she sold her horses. It was an easy decision at the time, but now she felt unfulfilled. She missed the time she spent riding. The light of inspiration was getting dimmer.
Then a miracle occurred. Terri’s own cousin started a therapeutic riding school, and he was in need of more trainers. He casually mentioned it to Terri at a family Christmas party, and her eyes lit up. She immediately offered herself as a volunteer twice a week. In the months that followed, Terri blossomed. She was able to ride again without the expense, and she had the additional joy of helping special-needs students. The spark her cousin offered through his own new venture rekindled the light in her soul, and she was filled with gratitude.
Who has been a light in your life? Who gave you hope when you were in despair? Write about your experience when someone reached out and helped you. Then journal about ways in which you can become the spark in someone else’s life.
DAY
233
“Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy—because we will always want to have something else or something more.”
— Brother David Steindl-Rast
How do you feel today? Do you feel happy? Or do you have a gnawing feeling in your gut that signals how much you yearn for more than you have right now?
Practicing gratitude will help you to feed that need in your soul. It is important to strive for more—especially when you are on the road to success—but you have to stop on the path to achievement and be grateful for all of the wonderful things that are part of your life right now. Are you aware of the good things in your life? Some people will never be satisfied until their ultimate goals are achieved, but that kind of tunnel vision robs them of a host of events that happen every day in real time that should be celebrated. They don’t even notice them.
If you are too focused on the finish line, you might miss the best parts of life.
Work on increasing your awareness. Stop reaching for ultimate happiness and concentrate instead on awareness. What do you notice? What surprises you? Be aware of people, places, and things. Pay attention to the mood of your co-worker. Maybe there is something you can do to help them if they’re having a bad day. Take a look at the progress of that construction site near your office. How is it going? Awareness is your assignment today.
DAY