photo credit: pfly

What Smalls will you celebrate?

Don’t let the bastards get you down!

I’ve got some new mountains to climb.  And they’re scaring me. My guess is that many of you are, like me, experiencing the following: just as I encounter a precipice, just when I need to make a leap of faith, I find my bounce back juice is running low.

Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to let the bastards get me down!  I’m just going to take a deep breath and figure it out as I go.  And take it one step, one day, one little win at a time. And gift myself with the occasional wallow without getting stuck in the quicksand. I’ll stumble up the bounce back path, by God I will!

So today instead of succumbing to discouragement, I’ve decided to acknowledge the “small wins” I’m still working on, the ones I’m giving up on, and most significantly, the ones I can celebrate on the Won-One side because, believe it or not, as trivial as they may be, these small wins are giving me the courage to keep plodding up those mountains looming ahead.

Here’s Me, Working on My Not Won (YET) Smalls Including:

• Reversing the stairwell ceiling-fan’s blades – I’m not tall enough to reach the on/off cords; I tried using my “reacher” and broke part of the chain.  I need to do this on a ladder and for that I need a spotter.  Something so simple quickly complicates.
• Looking for replacement fans for the three I threw away – found a really good one at an estate sale but it was not for sale.
• Hunting yard sales & estate sales for a wet/dry shop vac for yard chores.
• Finding an important but missing address book. It’s here somewhere!
• Working up to programming the VCR in time for the fall season shows. Maybe.
• Finding a transportation car for my daughter so we don’t have to share vehicles.
• Balancing the damn checkbook!
• Tallying and prioritizing all my to-do’s… yuk.

Here’s Me, Letting Go of My Un-Winnable Smalls Including:

• Giving up on finding last Wednesday’s lost newspaper – had it, then “lost” it.  Oh well.
• Disposing of the three room fans I’ve concluded I can’t fix – tried, no joy.
• Acknowledging my last three partial-posts belong in the Recycle Bin.
• Refraining from all the self-talk that only makes me weepy.
• Forgoing the self-flagellation for being weepy again and again.  It’s OK, it’s not bellyaching, just adjusting a little bit each day.

Here’s Me, Celebrating My Recent Small Wins Including:

• Waxing the stuck window slide and it SLIDES!
• Remembering to check Google for a solution to stupid stuff like stuck windows!
• Setting the A/C thermostat on “hold temp” and it DOES!
• Assembling two stored-away fans from scratch.
• Making a list so when someone offers to “help” I can take them up on it.
• Cooling my office by replacing regular light bulbs with fluorescent at my desk.
• Finding the cache of extra keys.
• Figuring out how to get the TV clickers to work when they go quirky.
• Setting up two “night lights’ on clickers.
• On-ing and off-ing fans with clickers!
• Shopping with a 45% off entire order coupon!
• Spotting a good find at a yard sale.
• Waking up to hot coffee thanks to the automatic coffee maker!
• Remembering to set up the coffee maker the night before.
• Reveling in cool nights after very hot days.
• Appreciating that my electricity is still on – half the neighborhood is out.
• Using ATM cards and knowing how.  (Such a simple thing, just never bothered before.)
• Knowing when to call in the repair person.
• Making vertical blinds work when they crap out.  Takes a bit of diddling but it can be done.
• Being able to walk up a steep hill at a good clip!
• Finding parking spaces big enough for my “land yacht” (Class B RV – not my errand-running-rig of choice.)
• Getting the vehicles clean – that’s a lotta work!
• Enjoying somebody else’s cooking.
• Setting up a routine for routine things like keys and newspapers and coffee makers.
• Getting to choose from oh so many tempting extension classes!

Fueling My Bounce Back

Here’s to celebrating small wins! They’re fueling my bounce back reservoir with new juice.  And God knows I need it.  So I’ll continue to celebrate my small wins, one small step at a time.  I can do this.  I can.

What about you – what Smalls will you celebrate?