Disobeying the List!!!!!!
The List. The omnipotent list. You know what I’m talking about, the to-do list. That prioritized list of things that you want to get done...TODAY. You’ve sat down in a moment of serenity, placed your pen on that beautiful blank piece of paper, and away you and the list went. You sit back, take a look at the work you’ve done, proud of yourself and feeling empowered. This is YOUR list. Anything on it is possible....
So off you go, you and the list, and the daily tasks get checked off one by one. Diligently crossing lines off as you smoothly accomplish each one. You’re on a task crossing off sort of high now....look at how great you’re doing! Maybe you should have made this list longer today...
Then disaster strikes. What happened? You moved on to the next sweet task. You just gathered all your tools necessary for the task “Clean alpaca poo”, loaded it into the wheel barrel, up the hill you go and BAM! Chaos erupts! The shovels go flying as the wheel barrel spills over to the right, chickens freaking out and dogs barking at the commotion! Everything stops. How could this happen? Did I tip this over? The crushtration settles in (Definition? Crushed + frustration. Get it? Mary Poppins would approve). Next step? You need to take that list and look at it with sorrow, knowing that you may not get to the rest of your tasks you two had artfully woven together. You must break up with your guidance for that day, cut the cord.
Once you have come to terms with the emotional parting of your list, you can make room for a new task. This particular situation would be seeing what the cuss is wrong with the wheel barrel and fix it!
This scenario is a typical day in the life of a farmer. To do lists have become something more like reminder lists. The problem that arises is always one that must take precedence over that task you meant to be doing. You might just try to work through the problem, as human tendency tends to sway us to persevere and stick to the game plan. However, if it isn’t solved properly, the issue will inevitably present itself at some other inopportune moment. It really just makes your life easier to handle it then in there, teaching us kids some sense of responsibility.
If I could sum this up in a sweet little quip, it would be: Dance With Your Day, let it lead you through it’s melody. Let the crushtration in and then let it out!
OK all, on to the next task.... ;)
