Make a List – Check it Twice
Some people don’t like my lists. They worry about me and all my To Do’s. To them, my lists look overwhelming and impossible, but to me they serve a purpose.
My lists help me think. They work for me.
And they don’t define me.
Marking things off my lists feels good, but it doesn’t make me a better person. A friend of mine avoids list-making because she says the unfinished list hurts her self-esteem.
I say let that go.
The list is just a tool. It can’t gauge how your day went. It doesn’t know if you snuck an unlisted hour to sit quietly with your friend or if it took you twice as long to clean your room than you thought it would.
Accomplishing tasks and staying on track can help you grow and keep moving forward, but that’s not the list. That’s you.
# 1 List-making Requirement
Probably the best thing about list-making is that it gets me thinking.
Seriously, list-making takes some real thinking. It’s not for the faint of heart. It requires a warrior’s constitution.
Some say writing out a “To Do” list brings you face-to-face with the very real possibility of failure. If you write it down and never mark it off, then you’ve only added to the pile of things you haven’t done.
But I don’t think that’s the worst thing.
The worst thing is to not be thinking at all, and I suppose a whole lot of us are guilty of that.
We’re overwhelmed. Insecure. Tired. And we stop thinking about next steps or why we’re just standing here. We accept our status quo as how life is supposed to be.
“Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.” Francis Chan
Warrior, wake up!
It’s time to shake off that sleepy feeling and wake up, warrior.
Pull out your pen and write your list. Write and dream and think. Whatever your age, physical health, IQ, or circumstance, it’s time to wake up and dream big.
You can do something, and even one small step toward your goals will bring you closer than no step at all.
Before you get going though, here are three things you should remember about list-making:
- Your list is your tool. Don’t beat yourself up with it.
- Lists won’t bring you peace or joy or any of those things that ultimately you can only get from God.
- Don’t let other people put stuff on our list. (Unless it’s something cute like “give me a hug” or “take a nap”)
Happy list making, sweet Warrior friends!
Before you go let me know what you think about lists! Do they work for you? Leave a comment below and share your insights!
I’m a huge list maker but do occasionally allow it to make me feel overwhelmed. And I’ve been known to do something not on the list, and then write it and scratch it off the list. Crazy! But my list helps me stay focused and get a lot done! Thanks for the post, Warrior friend.
I’ve done the same thing! And I will even write down every little detail so I can mark more stuff off! Thanks for sharing!