True Confessions Wednesday: Success is in the Eye of the Beholder

True Confession #45: I'm not good at counting my successes. I'm definitely a list maker, and I love checking things off those lists but, instead of focusing on what I checked off, I instead find myself frustrated by the items that remain.

Part of the problem is that I tend to overpack my lists. In the interest of writing everything down, I lose sight of the fact that the amount of space in the Monday box on my week-at-a-glance planner isn't necessarily a good indication of whether or not there are actually enough hours in Monday to get it all done.

In the past few months, I've checked a few things off my long-term list, including finally getting rid of the file cabinet in my office and replacing it with storage that's a better fit for my I need to see it personal style and actually keeping the desk and counter in my office mostly clear on a regular basis. I've also come up with a simple, style-friendly way to keep track of my class planning materials without them taking over either of those clear spaces. All of these things led to a tidier, more efficient office space but, some days, when I look around, all I see is what remains to be done -- here and everywhere else in the house.

Isn't my first rule of STYLE Start with successes?

Indeed it is. And the irony of this does not escape me. I stand by that starting point, too, but that doesn't mean it's always easy. It takes special effort to notice our successes amid a never-ending backdrop of things to be done or clear spaces to be reclaimed from the detritus of day-to-day life. 

It's really important to notice these things, though, because our successes are what keep us going, reminding us of what we're capable of, perhaps most of all during those times when we feel less-than-capable. 

So, I'm going to close with a little lesson in reframing. (Some might call it rationalization. I prefer to classify it as reclaiming success from perceived failure).

It's Thursday. This is (clearly) a Wednesday post, one that was unfinished as Wednesday turned into Thursday. I have several choices. I can abandon it and delete it, negating the work that went into it and leaving an empty space on this blog where a Wednesday post might have been. I can skip this week, and save it for next week, posting it on the right day of the week. 

Or, I can post it today.

All of these options are viable, and it's up to me to decide which choice to make. The empty space will disappear quickly, as soon as I post something new, and future readers will perhaps not even notice that this week, there was no Wednesday post.

But that option isn't the one that makes me feel successful. A post that's late seems to me to be better than no post at all and so up this one will go. Today. 

Sometimes, success is in the eye of the beholder.

Even if she needs a magnifying glass to find it.