Cleaning for Christmas

Well, it is Christmas Day. Have you put your 15 minutes in? Yesterday, I got my stairs completely cleaned off, except for one basket which is specifically a stair basket – designed to go on a stair. First time in years and years and years. Cleaned off, swept, dust mopped. Just in time, too. My staircase has a landing where the stairs turn a corner. I have open stairs, and due to the location of my wall heater, that landing is actually one of the warmest places in the house. I had a nice, clean landing to lay out my Christmas presents, wrap them, fix the stockings…such a nice feeling. And then I made sure that everything was put away. Wrapping paper and tape in it’s “up” location, scissors in their basket, scraps in the trash, left over candy in my tummy – well, only a couple of chocolate pieces. And I have a nice clean staircase to look at. When I do, I smile, and the world seems better. Cleaning the staircase might seem a like a small victory, but it is a victory nonetheless, and my house is a little bit safer for it. Next task? Clearing out the junk that is by the wall next to the staircase.  This vacation, I created a huge “to do” list.  I won’t have very much work until school starts again, so I just set down and wrote down everything that I want to do for the next week or two.  Now, mind, I do not expect to do all of them.  If I only do half of them, I will be ecstatic.  But writing down some specific goals is one way of helping stay on task.  My list is on my computer, and I do not delete the ones that get finished.  Instead, I type in a big DONE in front of the task and tab it over.   You see, if I deleted them, then I wouldn’t see what I had accomplished when I get discouraged about how many items are still on the list.  By simply indenting them over, I can see all the work that I’ve already done, and I won’t get as discouraged if I don’t get to all of them.  Baby steps, baby steps…The longest journey begins with but a single step.  Hope your holidays are wonderful, and full of the small steps that lead to a great journey.