Accomplishments

It's about time...

                                                                    Tempus fugit

           

Lately I've been feeling like life is sort of slipping through my fingers. It seems like it's always time for bed once again and at the end of the (busy) day I can't remember what I've done. 

I'm a list maker. I need to write things down so that I don't walk around in a frenzy trying to remember what I'm forgetting. I cross things off as I complete tasks and then forget about what I've accomplished.  So it's time to take a new approach.
I saw somewhere an idea for a List Jar and decided to give it a go. I jot down my list as usual, but then, instead of throwing the list away after crossing off the accomplished things , I write them on pretty slips of paper and put the slips in a jar. I notice everything I do, from menial chores like doing the dishes and laundry to creative ventures like painting pillow covers to being kind like visiting someone lonely. Not all the things I do come from the To Do-list, but if I do it, it goes in the jar. This is a therapeutic way for me to see that life is not slipping through my fingers and I am not just idly standing by.  :-)  Already I see the jar filling up! 

I'll keep adding to my jar until it's to the brim and then I think I'll start a notebook. A friend told me how excited she was to read a diary that her grandmother she never knew had filled up with lists of her everyday doings. (She baked lots of pies and took them to people to cheer them up!) What an fascinating way to get to know someone!


About a year ago I made a list of fun things I'd like to do in the new year. I had a blast doing a bunch of them:

-Be amazed: I saw Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables and was amazed!
-Learn to dance: Not from Zac Efron as originally planned (hah). Nevertheless, loads of fun; 
  my Brazilian friends taught me!
-Midnight kiss at New Year's: check ;-)
-Own a kooky umbrella
-Get dessert as an appetizer 
-Go to London: Repeat, please!
-Go to "Bali": My sister took me to a Resort & Spa in Finland
-Paint a picture

What we do with our time matters. Life comes in stages and what we concentrate our energies on varies by stage. But every stage is prime.
A quote by April Monroe comes to mind. "Sometimes the most moving, altering moments of life are in fact only moments. Sometimes they are not destined to be novels, essays, or memoirs." 
Sometimes we just need to take the moments and appreciate what we're experiencing. :-)
My list jar is showing me a nice blend of work, play, and making a difference. (A Blog Post slip goes in!)

How do you measure what you do in a day? Are you a list maker? A journal keeper? I hope you feel accomplished!