What’s My Measure of Success?

To-Do-Lists or the Golden Rule? 

So, you get to the end of your day and wonder what on earth you did ALL day. You check the to-do-list (if you can find it) ☺ and see there is really nothing to mark off. In fact, you jot down a couple of new things you now remember that are supposedly urgent. 

The books can tell you how to avoid this predicament. They can give you tips and advice and how-to's so you don't feel like piling up into a heap with a snack and some brain-dead TV show and quietly griping yourself out over and over.

Is there an alternative that actually sets us back on course?

Turn it over. Take that "condemnation riddled” to-do-list and flip it over and write down what you actually did throughout the day. Here’s mine for today.

-         Good visit with husband

-         Wrote out scripture prayer for teen, prepared note-card to mail

-         Bubble bath

-         Hair cut & color!!

-         Visit with friend/prayed for her friend

-         Mini-lunch date

-         Visted some family members

-         Shopped w/ husband (3 stores!!)

-         Good nap!

-         Sat with and listened to new ideas for business plan

-         Ate healthy supper

-         Played with the dog

-         Cleaned kitchen

-         Called 3 friends, sent letter to friend

-         Decided to agree there is NO condemnation for me…

Now that wasn’t so bad was it…the day I mean. So you had some meaningful conversations and did some heart-felt relating and really everything was pretty much good stuff done today.

The real problem is not in creating the list, or not doing what is on the list but the belief that if there is nothing marked off the list, it means “I have failed”. Before you know it, we actually believe that. Guess what’s next? Yep, if we stay there, then we’ve have just set ourselves up for an un-productive day or most certainly an un-fulfilled one tomorrow. Or, even if it is productive, we’ll tell ourselves we didn’t get anything done because there are no lines marking anything off!  Maybe we should throw that list away!

Or…what if we used it like it is meant to be used. A way to capture things we want to do while we’re being the person we want to be. What if we were able to get most everything on our list done, but had been real crabby all day- making everyone around us wish they had thrown the list away! Or left home. Or they piled up in a heap-checked out, so they didn’t get blasted with our “poor, me, to-do-spray”!

Measuring our success on how we treat those around us rather than how many things we can mark off the list seems to be a better guide.

Let’s try being a little more gentle with ourselves. When we encourage others to see a better perspective of their lives, we would profit if we listened to those words ourselves!

Here’s betting if I go to bed tonight with the flip side of that list in my heart and mind, I’ll be thankful for the good day I had, rest a little better, and actually turn it back over with a slight pep in my step ready to tackle something listed. At least I’ll remember that “being” trumps “doing” and my success is not based on lines drawn through lists. Besides, the list is perpetual and if I want to accomplish the most important of all assignments, the approach has to change. Now. 

Do unto others…Matthew 7:12

I’m just sayin’.