Monday, December 24, 2007

It's Christmas Eve. Forget the clock!

I've been a bit frustrated with myself this holiday season with completing all of my Christmas chores. As I previously wrote, I intended to have my cards out earlier. I also planned on getting my house decorated a couple of weeks ago. As I write this, packages of ornaments are strewn about my living room, with half of their contents hanging on the tree. A few gifts, which have sat on my couch for the past several days, also need to be wrapped. And because I just figured out which recipe I'm cooking for company tomorrow, I need to hit the supermarket.

I'm not too worried about any of this.

On Saturday, I received an email newsletter that I occasionally read. I decided to scroll through it, and one quote in it grabbed my attention:

"Forget the clock and take the compass. The direction you are headed is more important that the time it takes to get there."

Wow. I wrote the quote with a Sharpie on a bright blue Post-it and stuck it to my desk. The quote struck me because, when I finish something, I typically bemoan the fact that it took me so long to get it done. Take my cards, for example - they have arrived at their recipients, yet I still think I could have got them there earlier. But, hey, I finished them!

One of the notions I've worked on reframing this year is that life's not about crossing everything off from my to-do list. It takes me, and most folks with ADD, more time to do a lot of tasks. But bit by bit, I do feel like I'm accomplishing goals. This year, I feel that I've accomplished many great things, which I did on my own schedule. Doing things on your own terms is powerful!

The things that I want to get done for tomorrow will get done. I didn't finish them on December 20th or 12th, but it doesn't matter because Christmas is the 25th. Merry Christmas to all!

No comments: