What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do To De-Clutter...your desk, your closet, or your mind?

I have now officially lived in my house longer than I have ever lived any one place. Going on nine years. 

And the corollary of that is--we have accumulated TOO MUCH STUFF.

There was an old saying in the Army, when we were moving our family around the wold..."Three moves equals a fire." That meant that there would be damage, theft, loss, and things that just plain disappeared. Very little of my early life survives the multiple "fires" of moving.

But just like a brush fire clears undergrowth and allows new things to germinate, a move also clears junk.

And I haven't moved in a long time. I'm not a hoarder, but whoa, Nelly, I have too much stuff. The temptation is to get a place to store it.

No.

I am also conscious that with stuff, comes the noise of the mind. And that clutter needs to go away, too. My friend Maggie teaches Transcendental Meditation, which helps with the clutter of the mind--but you have to allow it to sort your internal closets for a while to release the noise.

Today I will spend some time in silence, and allow the stress to sort itself out. And I will actively clean one more cabinet, closet or shelf. Daily, until I have cleaned out some of the clutter on both levels.

What's the smallest thing you will do today to declutter?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Be Part Of The Dance?

I used to hate going to school dances. I never had the confidence I needed to really get out there and dance, and I waited for a boy to ask me. Every time.

Until I realized that I could dance by myself, and love it. 

Somewhere along the line, I got self-conscious again, and stopped dancing. I bought into my father telling me that I was awkward and clumsy. I bought into people telling me I had no sense of rhythm and might as well sit on the sidelines.

What a shame. I spent a good part of my life afraid to even exercise in a group because I thought I couldn't move with any kind of grace or timing.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

My sense of rhythm may not be perfect. My dancing might look awkward, and my body may not move like a dancer's should.

But it's what I have and I am learning that the Dance is much more than just what happens on a dance floor.

The Dance (with a big D) is our party with the Universe. It is the way we are with each other, our willingness to engage or not, our extension of a hand when we ask someone to come out and play.

It is a Dance in so many ways, and the music is individual. When we can get into a line, and make it look good...hooray.

But hooray for those of us who can dance and Dance our own ways, without fear of judgment.

What's the smallest thing you will do today to Join The Dance?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To See The World As An Inkblot Test?

I just saw a meme online that contrasts Abundance Consciousness with a Scarcity Mindset. The content was interesting; but the comments were even more telling for me.

Some people looked at the Abundance side and reacted very negatively--angry, defensive, and frustrated. Others reacted with a kind of blissed out Zen energy.

Mostly, I was just interested in how when confronted by something, our reactions say so much about how we view the world, and how we protect our belief systems.

It occurred to me that the whole world presents us with these opportunities. When I start looking at the world as a mirror, and as a way to know myself better by my reactions, it becomes a very different place.

I had a nasty bout with feeling judged this week. Wow. I can't believe how much work I still need to do around this. But now, I can look at it a little more objectively, and recognize that I'm not done growing. What people think of me, what they say, how they feel about the way I live my life, still makes me defensive and hurt.

But it's more about old hurt than new. It's more about feeling like I don't belong than the reality that of course I do. I have my place on this earth, and I want to stay graceful and fluid with that place. Because it's not really mine. It's borrowed. And that's ok.

But it has been a fragile understanding and I still have work to do.

Maybe the world is telling you a lot about yourself, by just being there as a neutral party. What's the smallest thing you will do today to treat it like a teacher?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Find a "3rd Alternative"?

I am reading a Stephen Covey book called The 3rd Alternative. I have not finished it, but what I have read so far is very compelling. The basic premise is that there are always going to be radically opposed viewpoints in any given situation of great importance--and that by listening carefully to both sides, it is possible to propose a third alternative.

This third alternative might combine the needs of both sides. Then again, it might be a solution that is so "out of the box" that it completely jumps over both and opens a completely new way to look at things.

One example given was that of a musician's daughter who came home in tears one day, toting her violin. The little girl said that she was no longer allowed to practice her music at school.
The musician was outraged. She spent a night furious, angry that anyone would rob her daughter of the chance to practice her violin at school.

But by the next morning, instead of marching angrily to the school board, she went to the girl's teacher and found out that due to testing mandates, there was no longer enough time for music. "We must spend all our time teaching the basics, like reading and math," the teacher said, also in tears.

The musician thought about now attacking the government, but instead said to herself, "Music is math." She and the teacher began to talk, and asked--what if we could teach music THROUGH all the other subjects? The musician started to volunteer what time she could and together, she and the teacher taught every subject using music.

They taught poetry as song. They taught fractions as notes of music with different duration. They taught history by teaching about composers.*

They found a 3rd Alternative, and it worked.

Life is neither all one thing or another. We blend. And in the blending, we find new solutions. I highly recommend the book--and the kind of thinking in it.

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Find A 3rd Alternative?

*story above taken from The 3rd Alternative: Solving Life's Most Difficult Problems, by Stephen Covey, Free Press, a division of Simon and Schuster, Inc. 2011

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Dance In The Rain?

We all have rainy days. My daughters both love to dance in the rain, as did I. 

So why do I forget that when we have other kinds of rain--the kinds of "rainy days" where we wrestle with troubles...do we forget that rain is part of what gives life, clears the air, makes the frogs sing...

I think I need to practice a little rain dancing today. Just because things aren't perfect doesn't mean I can't still dance for the things that are amazing.

And as I dance in the rain, I find that there is more to dance about than I first thought. My car runs. I have love. I have wonderful kids and grandkids. I was able to eat today. I took a warm shower. I had soap. And I have all of you!

What's the smallest thing you will do today to dance in the rain of your life?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Ask A Great Question?

Ha! I just DID!

Seriously. I have been signing copies of my book for special folks, and I realize that I've learned more about people from the questions they ask, than from the answers they give. We want to have good answers. We want to be seen as intelligent, good thinkers, and have good advice to offer.

 But I think you can tell an awful lot more about a person by the kinds of questions they ask. Are they really interested in knowing something, or are they just being polite?

Do their questions make you think, or make you want to shrink? Do they engage or repel? And do they take both parties deeper into understanding? Or do they make it more difficult to communicate?

Think about your best conversations. Who asked the most questions, and how? Respectfully, curiously, or did it feel like an interrogation?

Asking questions is an art.

 Become an artist. And think about this--it's not all about content. It's also about delivery.

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Ask A GREAT Question?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Celebrate A Scar?

A beloved ceramic bowl is broken. Instead of throwing the pieces away, a Japanese artist patiently uses lacquer and gold to rejoin the pieces in a meditative practice called Kintsugi. What was broken now becomes part of the story of the bowl, and is told and retold each time it is used.

A coat is patched carefully, stitched back to usefulness. The tear is lovingly accentuated, instead of hidden. The tear is part of the history of the garment now, instead of a shameful thing--it shows that the rest of the coat was worth keeping.

When I was embroiled in my first divorce in my twenties, a friend of my father expressed her sadness that I had to face it, because it was so hard to do. He held up his work worn hand and asked her what she saw. "Scar tissue," she answered.

"That's what she's made of," he said, gesturing at me. "She'll be ok."

It was a tacit acknowledgment of my strength. I hid those scars for a long time, wishing that I could be like other people, cut from whole cloth instead of patched together with pain.

Now, I am going back over the old scars, and loving them. They are part of my history, and show that the whole being I am was worth the saving.

What's the smallest thing you will do today to rejoin your scattered, torn or painful places in love?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today, For Yourself, That Someone Else Didn't?

Growing up was challenging for me. Lots of upheaval, which lead to attending a lot of different schools amidst tremendous family crisis. 

That, in turn, led to a very uneven learning experience. I graduated from high school, but looking back, I know that there were huge gaps in my learning. At the age of 52, without a college degree, but being largely self-taught, I have given myself a reasonable education.

But I know where the gaps still reside. My math skills are awful. And yes, I know that at my age, I probably could go on the rest of my life without making them better.

But I want them to be better. I am also thinking of returning to school, and that means entrance testing. I've avoided it for years, because I really don't want to face just how bad it is.

Enter the Khan Academy. If you haven't seen this site, you need to find it. It's an online tutoring system, and I am working on my math. As I do the exercises, I am finding that somewhere in my brain, these skills exist, rusty though they are.

And then I ask myself why I am bothering--both with these little math exercises, and even the larger question of school. The truth is, getting a degree now won't help my earning potential much.

But it will heal a wound. And it will keep me learning. It's tempting to think I don't need to learn anything else, that I am too old and it's too hot, and I am too tired.

But there is some little kernel down there that wants to be fed. No one else was able to do that for me when I was younger.

So maybe it's up to me now. There are lots of you out there who have already done these things--but is there still something you'd like to do?

What's the smallest thing you will do today for yourself that no one else did, maybe way back when you needed it?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do To Watch For A Sign?

"God, give me a sign!" Yeah. That's been uttered a lot, prayed for a bunch, even breathed in a not-so-formed deep wish by most of us when things get hard. Usually, it's when we are at a decision-making place--or just feeling lost and wondering how to find a sense of direction again.

Because somehow, we equate standing still with a lack of progress. We might need to examine that, too, but that's another post.

But we all seem to need signs that we're doing the right thing. When things go well, we think, "Whew. Sure glad I made that choice!"

When things don't go well, we think, "Man, I knew I should have taken that left turn at Albuquerque."

Again, our perception is what turns something into a good thing or a bad thing, and often, it's neither one. And THAT'S another post.

But for today, let's just think about signs. Portents and wonders. Because the truth is, the world is one big ink blot test full of 'em. The Universe obligingly dishes up what we ask of It; and in the seemingly mundane, we might find our guidance.

Dreams. Coincidences. Chance meetings or snippets of song. All of these things have been the fuel of epiphany, the road marker in the dark for someone.

I find if I just get my radar up and relax, I find the signs I need to set my GPS in motion.

What about you? What's the smallest thing you will do today to recognize a sign that can guide your next small step?

"God, give me a sign!" Yeah. That's been uttered a lot, prayed for a bunch, even breathed in a not-so-formed deep wish by most of us when things get hard. Usually, it's when we are at a decision-making place--or just feeling lost and wondering how to find a sense of direction again.

Because somehow, we equate standing still with a lack of progress. We might need to examine that, too, but that's another post.

But we all seem to need signs that we're doing the right thing. When things go well, we think, "Whew. Sure glad I made that choice!"

When things don't go well, we think, "Man, I knew I should have taken that left turn at Albuquerque."

Again, our perception is what turns something into a good thing or a bad thing, and often, it's neither one. And THAT'S another post.

But for today, let's just think about signs. Portents and wonders. Because the truth is, the world is one big ink blot test full of 'em. The Universe obligingly dishes up what we ask of It; and in the seemingly mundane, we might find our guidance.

Dreams. Coincidences. Chance meetings or snippets of song. All of these things have been the fuel of epiphany, the road marker in the dark for someone.

I find if I just get my radar up and relax, I find the signs I need to set my GPS in motion.

What about you? What's the smallest thing you will do today to recognize a sign that can guide your next small step?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Be?

Being-ness is something that some people just seem to do naturally. You can always tell when you are in the company of someone who is fully present. It's more than just being a good listener. There is a quality that we all possess--to be willing to let go of what happened before and not worry about what will happen tomorrow...

To just be here. Now.

I know it sounds a little trite and old--it's been bandied around and sounds like the same old advice no one seems to be able to take for very long.

But try to take it, right now, in this moment. What do you hear? What do you see? What can you taste, touch, who is with you in the room?

Be Present. Be You. You are a tremendous gift. So is everything around you.

Turn off autopilot, and try staying present. Bring yourself back to it gently as the day goes on.

Tomorrow will be here when it will. Yesterday is gone.

This is what you get! And it's great to Be here with you.

What's the smallest thing you will do today to just...be?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Set An "Inchstone"?

I saw this term on a page for special needs kids, and I love it.

Inchstones, instead of milestones. A step at a time, an inch at a time, in a culture that takes big strides and likes grander gestures of success...

But there is definitely something to be said about inchstones. Yes, it's slower. Yes, it's more deliberate.

Maybe some deliberate and small is not such a bad thing.

Thoughts? Keeping this short. After all, it's an inchstone.

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Ease Some Pain?

I woke up with a backache. It happens, especially as these bones and muscles get a little older. But it reminded me that many folks are in constant pain, like my neighbor across the street. He's had five surgeries on his back, and is facing another one--without much hope of success. He lives with agonizing pain, as do many.

Having had one bout with chronic pain a few years back, I am grateful that it's not a consistent thread now. But when I do have a nagging reminder that I can find a way to ease, I have to pause and remember that not everyone is so lucky.

Sometimes, the pain is emotional as well as physical. Emotional pain is just as difficult, just as hard to get past, but tends to be invisible. It's even worse when someone feels isolated and alone. A phone call or email or just a hug might be a lifeline.

As I wait for my own pain to fade today, I am conscious of the many gifts it gives me. It keeps me conscious, reminds me of the dangers of not taking care of myself, reminds me that even when some people do everything they can, they still walk with pain.

I wish everyone ease today. What's the smallest thing you will do today to ease some pain...either yours or someone else's?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do To Complete An Item "On Your List"?

I catch myself saying it frequently. "It's on my list," I say, when I am asked whether I've seen a certain show, read a certain book, or completed a certain task.

My list is getting pretty durned long.

Granted, life has been hectic of late. But looking back, I can't see too many times when I wasn't busy. In the process of setting new priorities now, I realize it's a great time to drag out the list.

I've found out some things:

1. Sometimes, I tell people that things are on my list that really aren't. I can reduce my list by stopping that behavior; since I probably have no intention of doing them anyway, I shouldn't use that method to get people to stop recommending things ad nauseum.

2. The things that truly are "on my list" do matter; and I must attend to them, in order of importance.

3. Doing the items is better than putting them back on the list and shoving it in a drawer.

Whether it's a "bucket list" of things I want to do before I die; an errand list of "gees, I need to take care of that"; or just a mental list of things I want to accomplish "I really DO want to read that book"; today I am starting by taking care of a bit of correspondence I need to do.

What's the smallest thing you will do today to complete an item on your list?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Recognize Your Beautiful Inner Organization?

I couldn't find my grandmother's ring yesterday. 

There has been some happy chaos in my house, and we are settling in with a reshuffling of space in the wake. I wanted to show a friend a treasured family heirloom. It wasn't where I thought it was. For the second time in a week, I couldn't put my hand immediately on something that mattered to me.

The first time had been some paperwork that I thought went AWOL.

And now, this ring.

Long story short: both items wound up being RIGHT WHERE THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN. I looked for them, and overlooked both in my impatience and frustration. When I calmed down, and looked without the panic and bad self talk ("How could I be so stupid, and it would be just like me to have thrown it away, and why don't I do things better....BLAH BLAH BLAH...") I found them, right where they were supposed to be. I just hadn't looked carefully enough.

Despite my best efforts to convince myself otherwise during times of stress, I actually do have a good sense of organization. And I bet you do, as well.

Inherently, our bodies are organized into amazing structures that we don't consciously direct. There is a rhythm and rhyme to life. We respond to it on deep levels.

You have patterns and routines, developed over time, that organize your world. You can develop patterns that will organize your life in better ways, if you choose.

Here's the great news: you've already had practice in organizing, and you are good at it. You get to pick which way your patterns will take you. If you already have habits, you have all the proof you need that you can follow habits.

You are organized! Your life is the result of whatever organization patterns you've chosen. 

So what's the smallest thing you will do today to recognize your own beautiful patterns...or create new ones that will show your genius?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Change The Size Of A Challenge?

This one is fun.

Take any challenge facing you. Now shrink that puppy down in your mind to a little problem. 

Or blow it up HUGE and look at the details.

Enlarge the time it will take to solve it by a million years. What would you do differently now?

Compress it down to fifteen minutes. Whoa. What changes now?

Mess around with the "reality". Stretch it out, mash it down. See if by shifting the shape, you can come up with a new solution.

If it impacts just a few people, see what happens in your mind if it impacts hundreds? Thousands?

If it impacts hundreds or thousands, what would you do if it just impacted your closest friend?

We are wizards. Don't forget it. Alter things. It only takes imagination.
What's the smallest thing you will do today to change the shape, size or quality of a challenge?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Build Something?

There's an old story (great fodder for an original urban legend) about a cathedral being built in France, about 800 years ago. When a passerby asked the stonemasons what they were doing, the masons said, "Cutting marble for the floor."

When the glassblowers were asked the same question, they replied, "Making glass for the windows."

When the woodwrights were asked, they said, "Framing the timber for the rafters and the altar."

When the old woman sweeping the steps was asked, she leaned against her broom and looked up at the beautiful building. "I'm building a cathedral," she answered.

I love this story. It's been used over and over, mostly in motivational work. It demonstrates perspective; each of the higher level craftsmen were focused (rightly) on the details of their contribution; but the lowly woman who swept up could see the bigger picture and appreciate her contribution as being part of the whole.

It can be very difficult to see a bigger picture sometimes. When we are in the small details of living, the daily slog and grind of projects, housework, child rearing or supporting a company, it can seem like the little stuff we do doesn't really matter.

But it does matter. Without the little pieces, the bigger ones don't happen. Small details, left undone, can develop into big problems.

The woman with the broom is important in our lives; definitely for her contribution, and also for her perspective. You are building cathedrals now--whether in your own personal life or professional setting. What you do matters and contributes to a marvelous bigger picture. 

What's the smallest thing you will do today to build a cathedral?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Make Friends With Your Sadness?

I'm not suggesting that depression is benevolent or fun. I'm not saying that we need to walk around trumpeting triumph because we feel sad.

What I am asking: in a reality where we run from sadness, fight sadness, soldier on through sadness and plain ignore it, is your sadness still trying to teach you something?

At the core of most difficult emotions, there is another layer of something else. Under anger there may be fear. Under fear, there is usually sadness or grief.

We heal over time. Or we cover up the inconvenient emotions and pretend we can just ignore them. But they tug at our shirts in strange little ways, leaking out in fear reactions or rage.

I'm no psychologist. These are things I've noticed in myself as I've become more aware of who I am, and what healing I have done and need to do. I'm not out of tears, and I kind of hope I never will be. I don't wallow in sadness, and I don't live there all the time. But I am aware that when I feel pain, if I follow it deeply enough, sadness about something lurks at the bottom of it.

And I am learning to let it go from a genuinely more healed place. It's not enlightenment, lord knows. It does feel like making peace, though.

Sadness connects me to compassion at times, and I hope it makes me better at being human. Curing my sad little Internal Girl has made me a much more rounded and loving person.

When I stopped running from it, and embraced it, sadness taught me a lot.

What's the smallest thing you will do today to make friends with yours?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Expand Your Possibilities?

How many times do you catch yourself saying, "I could never do..."

Do what? Dance? Take a 100% commission sales job? Write a book? Act onstage? Speak in public? Change a law? Learn a language? Go back to school? Dye your hair? Get a tattoo? Speak to a stranger? Drive a car with a stick shift? Paint a picture? Play an instrument? Try a new food?

Promote yourself or your cause?

Live a little!
Why not take an audacious chance on something, even if you do it in a small way? Risk a little bit. Try something you thought you'd never do.

You might be surprised at what opens up.

What's the smallest thing you will do today to change a never to an ever?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Respect Yourself?

This one seems simple on the outside. If you ask most people if they respect themselves, they'd probably say yes.

But the way we treat ourselves says something very different. 
We allow lots of trespasses. Most of us struggle with trespasses on the landscape of our time, on our health, and on our hearts. After a while, this wears and we defend those boundaries, usually in anger or hurt.

Self respect takes small forms. Eat something good instead of junk. Get enough rest. Be willing to take time for yourself. If you treat yourself poorly, it will be harder for others to treat you well.

Self respect also might mean being willing to have someone dislike the fact that you aren't allowing them to trespass. But I've found self respect breeds respect in general.

Self respect also doesn't have to mean selfishness. There is a difference. Giving of yourself from a genuinely respectful place means that what you give is healthier.

Trading your self respect for approval never works. And that might be the hardest thing.

What is the smallest thing you will do today to show yourself that you matter?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Adjust Your Focus?

I have lots of friends who are photographers, including my husband. Having dabbled a bit with it myself, and being older, I came from an age when autofocus didn't exist--and it took a delicate touch to adjust my lens on my simple little Pentax camera in order to get an unfuzzy photo.

This was further complicated by the fact that I am near sighted, and didn't always wear my glasses. Sometimes, I overcompensated with the camera because I couldn't see clearly--so I forced the camera lens to do the work that glasses should have done.

My instructor also showed me some neat tricks with depth of field, so that I could blur things that were close to bring things further away into focus--and vice versa.

Framing the object of focus and drawing the eye to it in a photo is an art form.

It occurs to me that it's an art form to do it outside photography, as well. People who write, or market, or do much communicating do it constantly, a kind of sleight-of-hand piece that tells us where to put our focus--"Look over HERE!"

But you have the lens in your hand. Maybe it's a good thing once in a while to clean it and make sure your glasses are in place.

And remember...what you focus on is what you get in the frame.

What's the Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Adjust Your Focus to Get The Picture You Want?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Find Something Good?

It's been a tough week. Lots of bad news. Lots of despair and pain and anger and worry. Boston and Texas are on my mind.

But my cherry tree is blooming anyway. There is a quiet kind of order in the way the grass is greening up, and every once in a while, the wind settles down to stillness.

My heart needs that kind of stillness; just a breath in the midst of all the chaos. We can't ignore the bad stuff; it exists.

But we can try to find some little bit of good someplace, and then look for more, encouraging that to shine out. As long as there is a ray of light, there is hope.

And there will be a ray of light as long as there are stars and a sun. I have faith in you, as you read this, whoever you are. You are a ray of light. Shine.

That's the smallest thing I will do today to find something good. I already did...it's you.

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Walk a Mile...

...in someone else's shoes?

It's an old adage. But ya know...it's relevant. 

We all are subject to judgmental behavior, both given and received. It's part of our human wiring, to discriminate good from bad; right from wrong; unhealthy from healthy.

But wow...we also have a tendency to cling to our own worldview without compassion for the other side; to protect our "way of life" at the cost of any chance of understanding.

If we as humans are to rise to our spiritual potential, we have some learning to do. And that takes the courage to walk a mile in someone else's shoes, so we can build compassion and encourage love.

Love is not weak. It takes much more courage than hate.

Short and sweet today. But I hope it takes you deep.

What's the smallest thing you will do today to walk a mile in someone else's shoes?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To See The Marvel In The Mundane?

There is nothing mundane about this world, once you really see it. As Dan Millman, author of The Peaceful Warrior, says, "There are no ordinary moments."

I was blessed yesterday with a glimpse of that--it came to me in about three minutes flashes for about two hours--when I really looked around me and SAW.

The things we've created as humans; the art that makes up a simple chair or the graceful lines of a favorite china cup...even the design of our most commonly used technology is remarkable. We've taken thought into form. That's wizard work. (And yeah, we need to learn to wield the power better, but I have hope.)

Then there's the true wonder of the sky and clouds, the elegance of a single flower that grows, unbidden, beautifully unfolding...the things that are around us everywhere, following their own timelines and quietly just being.

The beating of my own heart, which continues day and night, without my conscious effort...

We take so much for granted. We get mired in struggle and hate and anger, and feel that our lives have little meaning at times...and yet--

If all who feel despair and rage and want to wound could experience the love I did yesterday between myself and the Universe, things would change.

It only lasts a little while for me, this wonder. Today, I am breathing and will take myself back to that place when I start feeling overwhelmed and mired in the daily grind.

Once you truly SEE a grain of sand or get quiet with a sunset, or even just admire the way water boils, there are no boring moments ever again. There is too much to live for, to admire, and to marvel at to waste time with hate.

Like I said, this only lasts for a few precious moments before the "real" world comes back in. But I think there's a way to shift the focus to reframe "real".

What's the Smallest Thing You Will Do Today to Marvel?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Make Things Manageable?

Details, a million things that clamor for your attention, projects, tasks, chores, errands, ARRRGGGHH! The Procrastinator in me wants to go back to bed, and wake up on Tuesday.

Mondays seem to be great days for the list that never ends. But making a list tames the craziness, as does tackling those pieces. Good time managers identify what steps they need to accomplish within each task.

Surprise, surprise! They break them down into "smallest things", prioritize them by importance, and delegate where they can.

Not all of us can delegate our details to other people, but we can organize our thinking so things don't seem so overwhelming. My Procrastinator wants me to do that, because she sees it as a way to put off actually taking action on anything. Making a list can seem like an achievement, and some people stop there.

It is an achievement. But only if you then DO something about the items on the list.

So, today, I will regroup and organize my world, something I do every morning. And then, I will do the smallest thing...I will take action! As someone wise in my life used to say, "Well begun is halfway done."

What's the smallest thing you will do today to wrangle your wild details?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Deal With Your Own Knee-Jerk Reactions?

Ever have one of those days when you had plans, and someone else demanded something from you, without regard to those plans? If you're a parent or an employee, or a freelancer, it's probably happened to you. 

It's a small thing. But because I try to respect other people's time, it's challenging for me when I have to enforce these kinds of boundaries. I want to help people. I also have a life and there are times when I have to firmly, with love, tell people no.

The biggest challenge I have is the knee-jerk, "Hell no, what are you thinking, asking me to do this?" three-year-old-who-doesn't want-to-leave-the-zoo reaction. My next reaction is often to find some passively-aggressive way to deal with it.

"I just won't answer the phone when he calls," I think.

or

"I won't do it until tomorrow, because I can't let him jerk me around like that--even if I can find the time today. That will teach him a lesson!"

The truth is, I can find a balanced way to deal with it--one where I won't feel taken advantage of, and one where once again, I will enforce a boundary with someone who is not good about respecting those. We'll both probably get what we need, and move on from there. Compromise.

But that knee-jerk reaction is hard to overcome. 

And it rarely serves me well. A lot of people post things on FB, and speak to one another from that KJ place--the first offended reaction, instead of the more measured, considered one.

It's how small misunderstandings become huge fires. It is impossible for me (at least currently) to not have the KJ reactions--but I can choose to not let them drive my actions. Working on that one.

What's the smallest thing you will do today to act from a thinking place instead of a reacting one?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Appreciate Music?

I am listening to birdsong outside my window. The strangest thing is--I am literally backed up to the 495 beltway around Washington, DC. and the birds are still drowning out the traffic.

Most of us have music in the background daily, either in the car on the way to work, or in our homes, or in our heads. I play Mozart and Hindi nursery rhymes alternately for my grandson. When I write, I use mood music to help get my creative stuff moving.

Music is amazingly powerful. It speaks to us on levels that defy analysis. There is a pattern and hum to everything around us, a huge symphony, of all things.

And remember...in the silences between the notes, there is breath and thought and wonder.

I wish brilliant flowing music to you today. What's the smallest thing you will do today to take the time to listen, really listen, and appreciate it?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Find Your Way Home?

I had a disturbing dream last night. I was trying to get back home, and wound up taking a road that I had never seen. As I followed the unfamiliar path, it became increasingly obvious that it was not taking me in the direction I was trying to go. 

In an attempt to use my cell phone GPS, I suddenly could not remember my own address. I tried to talk to someone about it--the people in the dream were nice enough, but uninterested in my plight.

I knew I would get back; it was just a matter of time. The delay was distressing me more than being lost--probably because I've never felt truly lost on Planet Earth.

Home has never been a place for me--it's always been more of a feeling of belonging. But I am finding myself in a "place" that is making me ask myself how we find our way home, when we want to be there.

What's the smallest thing that you will do today to find your way home, or even define what that means for yourself?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Let In The Air?

It's a beautiful spring day here in Maryland. I've got the windows and doors open, and air is playing around in the corners of my house, chasing out the staleness of winter.

I have also been conscious of my breathing this last week. Life has been busy and somewhat stressful; and I've found myself taking deep cleansing breaths repeatedly. My body seems to know that I need to clean out my own cells, and release the stress.

My body, my house. There's a spiritual connection between the house of my soul and the house of my material existence. Just as my material house needs the cleansing power of spring air and sunshine, so does my body.

I'll be getting as much air and light as I can today. What's the smallest thing you will do to do the same?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Question Something?

The world tends to run on assumptions. We assume a lot of things, all day, every day. We assume that our routine won't vary much; we anticipate our daily challenges and tasks will be dealt with and handled; we expect that our typical systems will be in place. 

We largely assume that what we believe is true.

It ain't necessarily so.

One of the first things we learn to do as kids is ask questions. Spend a couple of hours with any three year old, and you'll see what I mean, if you don't remember it, or haven't had the chance to do so lately. They are seeing the world in a different way than we do--they are filling in gaps, making connections. They don't assume much, because they haven't had time to just accept "the way things are".

We are probably experiencing the most changeable time in the history of humankind. We are bombarded by information, at increasingly faster speeds. A natural protection is to surround ourselves with beliefs that keep us safe, something for us to hold onto when things get too out of control.

That's useful. It's also a trap, if we're not careful.

Keep asking questions. Challenge the status quo once in a while. Stay curious, and seek new answers. Things might have changed a little since the last time you did. Be prepared--most people don't like to have to think about the deep stuff. They just want things to proceed as "normal". But normal at best can sometimes be stifling; and at worst, can be just plain detrimental to healthy growth.

What's the smallest thing you will do today to question something?

What's The Smallest Thing You Won't Do Today?

Yes, ladies and gents. Sunday is not always a slow down day for everyone, but there ought to be some rest in there someplace during our busy lives.

We do, do, do...life seems to demand an ever-increasing number of things to "do". Even daily chores to maintain our living spaces, our health, the things we do for those we love, making a living--it all takes up the time and space of making a life.

Maybe today I WON'T do these small things--

1. Worry
2. Control
3. Eat the wrong stuff
4. Sit indoors, when it's beautiful outdoors
5. Criticize
6. Blame
7. Resort to anger
8. Speak without listening
9. Judge
10. Neglect myself

Ok, so some of these are not so small. But there is one small act inside each that I WON'T do today.

Take it easy. With Love from me to you today, wherever you are.

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Unlock The Magic of Words?

I've been giving a lot of thought to language today; for some reason, I was awake at 4:00 AM, with words already forming in pre-dawn understanding.

We live with words, surrounded by them every day, in spoken and written form, in thought, in music lyrics, in directions and admonishments, under our skin and over our heads. 

They evoke thought, images, ideas, emotions. We use them to persuade, to show love, to wound, to cage and to free ourselves and others.

They fall short of our meaning, yet there are always more to learn, better ways to use them, new ways to string them together like pearls on a wire or drops of water on a spiderweb...

They populate passionate whispers and strident shouts. They play in sun puddles like lazy cats and soothe us to sleep in mantras.

And all we need to do is read, write and speak them with presence and consciousness, not throwing them away, not wasting them or using them the wrong way...

Language is our expression of human being-ness. What is the smallest thing you will do today to unlock your own word magic?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Find...or Fulfill... Purpose?

When we lose a sense of purpose, daily effort can seem meaningless. If we start feeling that all we are doing is working to feed our bodies and hang on to a life that doesn't seem to be going anywhere anymore, it's easy to see how hopelessness can set in.

This is, perhaps, the very reason The Smallest Thing exists...

Caught in survival, it's impossible to see the point sometimes. If life is just a big grind, then what's the reason to keep grinding?

I don't pretend to have any mystical answers. When things are hard and times seem grim, I've slipped into a funk myself, seeing no point...

One way I sometimes get out of it is to find out what I can still do to make things better.

I try to find one small thing I can do for myself, my family, a friend or the planet. I try to breathe one small good thought.

Maybe that's enough. Maybe it's all I am here to do. And it could be that it's all pointless--so if it is--maybe it's ok that all I can do is send a good thought into the ether somehow.

Maybe it's a post I make to encourage someone. Or just the ability to listen when someone else is having a bad day. Maybe it's being willing to trust a friend and give them the chance to help me.

Maybe none of it makes any sense at all, and we get to make the sense out of it that we do. Maybe our next purpose is waiting for us to put down something we carry now, that no longer serves us.

Maybe.

When desire no longer provides a sign post, maybe we need to look for a different kind of sign post. 

It could be that we can make a list of our greatest gifts and find a way to keep those alive for ourselves. Paint for the sake of painting. Sing or dance or play music for the sake of the music. Get lost in the study of a species of caterpillar, for the sake of the caterpillar...and your own mind.

Maybe the smallest thing you will do today is redefine the word purpose. Much love.