Achievement!

Half or three quarters of an hours' labour in the back garden - weeding out the dead summer flowers, stirring up the soil and compost, and putting daffodil bulbs in for the New Year when they'll flower!

My back garden is flat, with gravel down and big and small pots and tubs. Great looking garden - I have garden furniture out there - with the minimum of effort to maintain.

Anyhow I do feel so much better at having accomplished something however trivial. I think that I'll be doing similar small achievable tasks like this for the rest of the week. Unless I get dazed and tired again.

I'm now indoors again (obviously!) on the computer and listening to a Dr Who adventure on CD. And with the ubiquitous mug of coffee. Well you know it makes sense!

SS

Chartreux said...
Wow! Way to go Sunshine Superman, Terrific. I just think you'll have a great looking garden

SS (Den) x

All done.

I too have a difficult time with putting things off and finishing tasks.  Which actually is quite funny as I am somewhat OCD about things.  Depression and the combination of my physicial illnesses I think are what do me in the greatest.

Great job SS on pushing forward and completing your tasks!

Sunshine Superman said...

I do feel so much better at having accomplished something however trivial. 

Sometimes just the size of a project is overwhelming - easier to accomplish when chunked down into manageable pieces.  Easier to weed/till/plant a reasonable sized flower bed than to landscape the garden.  It is so important to give ourselves permission to work on achieving pieces of a goal without the pressure of finishing the entire thing in one go.

There are times all my husband can actually accomplish in a day is unloading the dishwasher once ... oh well ... that 10 minute job is a plus, an achievement; not trivial.  Some days he doesn't do that much - other days he is productive for several hours.  Any sense of accomplishment and personal satisfaction is a step forward toward meeting Life's challenges.

It's also important to distinguish between the tasks required for day to day maintainence and the need to's or want to's that are major projects.  When life is tough, maintainence itself may be the most we can manage - and that only in 10 minute segments.  Never fail to give yourself credit for those minutes.

I bought a large pre-stamped quilt once; thought how simple it would be to embroider and how gorgeous it would be when finished ... couldn't do it ... finally sold it and all the embroidery thread at a yard sale.  Several years later I thought I'd try again (knew myself better) and bought 54, 18 inch, pre cut and pre stamped quilt blocks - and one by one they are getting done - stress free.  There's a great deal of satisfaction every time I add one to the finished stack ... it's gonna be gorgeous!

Take the pressure off yourself.  Give yourself a high five and an Atta girl/guy .. feel good.  Every step forward counts.  Nothing positive is trivial.

Amen.  End of sermon, lol. 

I think I understand, Joan.  Somehow, somewhere along the line, some of us become designated as "fixers."  And we buy into that, accept the responsibility, and go about the rest of our lives noting the things that are out of whack and setting about to fix them - put them right - take care of it - tend to business.

My dad didn't abuse my mom when I was present, so I learned very early that my job was to AlWays be there, to protect.  My husband couldn't get along with his birth family, so I was the designated intermediary.  The garbage disposal quits and nobody volunteers to check it, so it's my hand down in there with the gunk and blades; or it's me, upside down and backwards, under the sink looking for the reset button.  etc, etc, etc

I'm not sure this is an appropriate response about the ability to focus on the good stuff, but I do know that when something needs attention, there are those of us who respond - and there is enough bad stuff out there ... we don't get around to the good.  We are consumed.  Swallowed up.  Drowning.  And nobody even notices.  We see the hurts, the inadequacies, the problems, the injustice, and dive in to make things better.  Doesn't mean we don't appreciate the good outcomes, just means we're busy tending to things that othes don't want to, can't, or refuse. 

Eventually we get tired, then depressed.  How do we unlearn one role and learn a new one?  How do we focus on the nice things while other things simmer and boil?  Danged if I know!