Attitude adjustment

In her book, "Secrets to Getting More Done in Less Time," Donna Otto says, "Do you know what really makes you tired? The things you don't do, not the things you do!" She goes on to explain that while we think we don't have enough hours in the day to get everything done, the real drain on our energy is procrastination. It's no secret that I'm a procrastinator from a long and distinguished line. Even so, this was a revelation to me.

The last week or so, my attitude has been a bit of a problem. Little things have gotten under my skin, plans have fallen through, projects that should take an afternoon stretch interminably. I've become the Queen of Snarkiness, and while no one has complained about it (to my face) it hasn't made me happy.

In an attempt to mend my snarky ways, I started thinking about what I'd stopped or started doing recently to cause the problem. I came up with two things: my daily Bible reading was lacking, and my writing time was low priority. My problem wasn't the small daily irritations; it was not finishing Sword and Scabbard that was weighing me down.

I have taken steps to remedy the situations. I opened my Bible yesterday afternoon to Ecclesiates 3 and almost laughed out loud at verse 22, which starts, "So I saw that there is nothing better for men than that they should be happy in their work."

The remedy has been identified; now it's a matter of putting it into practice. It's very early in the month, but so far I'm three minutes and 2,916 words ahead of schedule. The mere fact that I'm ahead in both is a huge boost. It's just a matter of putting one word in front of the other.