Blogger: Rachelle Gardner
Welcome to summer!
This is my favorite time of the year, but it presents some special challenges. I don’t know about you, but I always find it a bit more difficult to balance work with fun during these three months. The pull to be outside enjoying the weather is strong, yet I’m equally energized to be at my desk working.
We all have our unique challenges, and personally, my biggest day-to-day difficulty is the sheer number of things that need to get done. Sometimes the to-do list is so long, I get paralyzed. So I have a sticky note right by my computer that looks something like this:
Over the years, I’ve had various sayings that have motivated me or helped me stay on task, but this is the one that works right now.
So what’s on YOUR sticky note? What’s the one saying that helps you get through your days?
It’s one I taught my kids to remember when something seems overwhelming.
How do you eat an elephant?
One bite at a time.
Love it! Our sayings have basically the same message!
“Do the next thing.”
*That phrase helped me through the months after my husband died and still rings true for challenges today. It’s especially helpful in getting the house clean with 3 year old and 1 year old “helpers”.
Interesting, we seem to need similar reminders to just do on thing and not give in to the overwhelm. I’ll bet your little helpers are cute. 😉
“One day at a time.”
The phrase and the song! Although sometimes I have to modify it and sing, one hour at a time, sweet Jesus. ?
Two on my work computer:
*”We are hitting the targets but missing the point.”
*”Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.”
*I’m at the intersection of collecting healthcare data and restoring the soul.
“When you speak, use no words. When you teach, impart no lesson.”
“Keep pressing on.”
*When life keeps me away from writing…
*When discouragement creeps in…
*When God’s timeline is different from my own…
Keep pressing on.
“God first, family second, then writing and others come in.”
I still struggle with this quote as evidenced this morning. Especially when there’s a writing goal and your mum just wants to discuss…
Does screen wallpaper count? “Vengeance is Mine, saith the LORD…but He subcontracts.”
* Well, it’s inspirational to ME.
Don’t sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the immediate.
And…
Good is the enemy of best.
Rachelle, I think I’ll copy your sticky note and add it to mine.
I have several quotes posted above my desk:
Trust and obey for there’s no other way to be happy,
Don’t doubt in the dark what you saw in the light,
and, Everything is possible for him who believes. Mark 9:23
I also have the words to the song, I Am A Promise posted there.
One foot in front of the other. I could write a book on how this came to be my mantra, but I’m sure you all get the drift.
“I am persuaded that there is time enough, here or somewhere, for all that I must do; and the good world manifests very little impatience.”
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Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Okay, so it’s a big sticky.
Mine says “Make Good Choices.”
I need to choose to work on my writing, not to procrastinate or get distracted. I need to choose to eat healthy and not eat junk. I need to choose to go to sleep at a reasonable time at night. And, unfortunately, I need to be reminded of all those things.
“There’s time to do all God wants me to do.”
864-7724. Pizza Hut.
LOL! :-))
Yes. Pizza! Anytime, day or night. 🙂
Too funny, Andrew. Leave it to an engineer to be so practical.
I have this on a post-it on the bulletin board above my desk:
A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9
That’s what I find myself needing to be reminded of more than anything else.
In busy seasons, I post this note to myself: O.T.E. (Only the Essentials). It means to let the not-quite-urgent tasks slide for a while.
Wow … I can’t believe your post today. What a God-thing for me. Seriously, on my sticky note today was my appointment for a breast biopsy. A nurse gave me the sticky note last week after x-rays. I went through that this morning, and now I’ll be waiting a few days to find out the results. It’s been a rough last few days, as my mother is a breast cancer survivor. And most of you know my daughter had a kidney tumor when she was a baby. What helped me get through it? Psalm 73:23-26 that I had written on a note card, stuck in my pocket (God’s Word is alive and active, you know!)–“Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand …” And good friends … a commenter here texted me all through my appt this morning. Thank you, Jennifer Major. You showed MAJOR Jesus-love to me this morning.
Aww, it was my honour and privilege.
<3
Many of us will be praying for you, Shelli.
Thank you, Carol.
I had this one on my office door, but it would fit a sticky note.
Time flies like an arrow.
Fruit flies like a banana.
Rachelle:
I always say, “This too shall pass.”
“It is what it is.” A friend of mine always says this and I’ve taken it as one of my own ‘get through’ phrases lately.
My other is what I’ve always told my girls growing up and because I can get cranky when I can’t write.
*Be thankful for what you have, and don’t cry for what you haven’t.*
If I just don’t have the time to write for whatever reason, I think of the alternative… I CAN write. I can see, I have hands and fingers and the mental cognizance to write. If I don’t have time to write, why? Maybe that interruption is more important in God’s eyes. Family, God and life always trumps writing for me. As one of my daughters likes to say, “Don’t worry, be happy.”
Shelli- Having been there, I’ll say a prayer for a good report from the dr. for you tonight.