DOING IT THE HARD WAY

Have you ever tried attempting a task that you know should be simple, but ends up being somewhat frustrating in the process? Recently, at the grocery store I frequently shop at, one of the workers in the produce section found me struggling with those plastic bags to put your produce in. You know the bags that come on a roll and are flat when you tear them off the roll. Once you have found the open end, you spend your time struggling to open it by pinching the open end between your forefinger and thumb, trying to twist it open. You make every effort to open it up, but to no avail. Watching me go at it with my feeble attemts, the produce worker came right up to me and told me that the bag was made special with handles so all I had to do was pull the handles apart and the middle would open right up. I no longer had to work so hard at opening those types of bags! I was very grateful for this workers kindness to give me such a fanatastic tip, and it worked beautifully! I have remembered that tip in returned trips to the produce isle, and even shared the good news with other struggling customers. I am a hard worker, but every now and then I find myself doing my work the hard way. Taking tests for example, has always been a challenge for me. I just get nervous, I guess, I'm always looking for the hidden meaning or the trick in the question that supposedly will stump me. As an end result I often find in my perfectionist ways I stump myself because there wasn't anything to be concerned about in the first place. Some days I can find myself very busy but feeling like I never get anything accomplished. Other days I end up being a problem solver for everyone else and not getting my own to do list done. Those days when I feel I've completed my day "empty-handed" I need to stop and make a list of what was accomplished. I often find that the day proved to be better than originally thought. My husband believes that days when I feel like I haven't accomplished anything is due to spending my time with busy work, not with result producing work. To some degree he's right. If I search for the most efficient way to get the results I need, I will spend less time with feeble attempts to do what is merely a simple task. My challenge today is to find a more efficient, complete, and smart way to get done with what needs to be accomplished, resulting in less stress, less work, and more play! Are you with me?!