This is the motto that is framed in my office. It is a saying by Aesop whose fables I became acquainted with as a young child. I have adopted this as my motto ever since I started battling Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. It's a disease that has a huge impact on every aspect of my life. But, I am not going to let it impact my will to have at least some amount of functionality in my life. I can't pretend that everything is A-Okay though. I have tried that with disastrous results.
What I can do though is have a goal everyday to get something done that will improve my life tomorrow and the day I am living of course. For the first time in my life I have committed to learning how to cook. I am going to be 50 very soon and I have never been in the habit of making most my meals at home. I raised 3 children on take out and convenience foods. It seemed like the right thing at the time since I worked and there was so little time to spend with my kids. But, it's an expensive habit and I missed out on all the wonderful experimenting a person can do in the kitchen. But, I don't want to cook at home just for the sake of cooking at home. I have a larger goal in mind than that. One of my goals is to get a BA within the next 18 months. So, having some money saved up can only be a good thing as I head out into the labor market. I hear things are tough out there and it seems to be a credible warning. I should worry about that more than I do, but I am not prone to worrying about things I can't change or things that haven't happened yet.
So yesterday my goal was rather simple clean out a closet. I never would have thought such a simple thing would make me so happy. But, it really did. My daughter came over just as I was getting ready to make some dinner and work on that closet. That is one of the beauties of making 15 bean soup after you have soaked the beans and have them ready for cooking, you simmer them for a couple of hours and you are free to do other things around the house while dinner is cooking. So, the closet has been collecting odds and ends for a couple of years and it's to the point where it's impossible to close. So, I pull out coats that are unhung set them aside. Pull out boxes of clothes, art supplies, vhs tapes and dvds, books, shoes, boots, hangers, etc... I found some clothing that I hadn't seen for months. I found two of Sarah's sweatshirts for Superamerica. I found books that I have to read now, one of them is called Jackdaws by Ken Follet, I already started reading that I got through the first chapter it has my attention.
I will end up tossing the VHS tapes, shelving the books, and the coats are on hangers now. It looks like a real closet now instead of looking like a hoarders house exploded, although I am not sure in some of those cases anyone would be able to tell if an explosion happened.
My office and bedroom is now organized for efficiency and that can only help as I prepare to go back to school in January. By then I will have learned how to make several cheap, easy, and delicious recipes so I won't be depending eating on campus food. I will have my food ready to heat and eat if I have a day where I will be taking two or more classes. Otherwise, I have learned to make a breakfast that will get me through one class and all the way home for lunch.
And that is also how I have learned to study. I study in two hour blocks of time. It's quite a change from before I got sick. Back in the day I could study in four hour blocks. So, now instead of studying for 2 classes in a four hour block. I study for one class earlier in the day and the other class later in the day. The amount of time is the same, I just have to break it into smaller manageable pieces and that is pretty much the way my whole day goes. Each task I do I have to break into smaller pieces to get it done, but I am learning to get it done and that is something. It is different from the way I would rather work. I used to like getting it all done at once, but I can live with this. I can still be productive, just on a smaller slower scale. I say it often as I go through my day " little by little does the trick".
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