I Get It

Malcolm Gladwell wrote in Outliers that it takes 10,000 hours or approximately 10 years to get really good at something. I'm pretty hard headed, so it might take me an extra 5,000 hours. But I think I'm starting to get it now.

You have to understand first of all that sometimes my brain amazes me. The other day I punched in the number of an old high school friend...even though I'd last dialed that number in 1992. And sometimes my brain disappoints me, like when I forget what I came into the kitchen to get even though it's just a few steps away from the living room.

Finally "getting it" also means that I'm not arguing with myself that I oughta know this already. It means accepting that for me it sometimes takes a little bit more effort. Or a lot.

I get that I have to write everything down or it may not stick in my brain.

I get that I need to have a combination of a distraction and a focal point to get repetitive tasks done. Hello Podcast!

I get that I miss interpersonal cues. For me to get a message I either have to have all my active listening skills set to "ON" or have someone hit me over the head with a 2x4. The good news is that after 15000 hours of practice I'm getting better at this. The bad news is that it's still work, and it probably always will be.

I get that sometimes I have trouble stopping myself. Those are the days when it's better to go shopping at the flea market than at the mall.

I get that adding people to my mix increases my stamina and enthusiasm. If Aunt Polly asked me to whitewash the fence by myself I'd totally pull a Tom Sawyer and try to get out of it. Well, sorta.* But if I'm working with someone else I'm like the energizer bunny and just keep going and going.

I get that I have no concept of time. Not only does everything have to go on my calendar, I have to set every single reminder option so that time doesn't get away from me.

Most of all, after 15,000 hours of turning on my ears and using my calendar and grocery shopping list and doing a load of laundry a day and checking for my keys every time I walk through a door ... I get that this is who I am and that I'm really good at being me. You see, along with the distraction comes some really cool creativity and amazing energy. Since everything new draws my attention I've had the chance to meet all kinds of really cool people and do some really neat things. I am so thankful that I've been able to remain positive through everything. Even though I haven't always been thrilled with every thing that has come my way, things really work out once you rub a little persistence, creativity, and positive energy on it.

And I finally get it.

*I couldn't exactly do like Tom and collect marbles and a dead cat while my friends whitewashed the fence. But I might tweet about it

Thankful 2010

A good friend of ours sent my husband the perfect sweater for Christmas.  You know, the one that is dressy enough to wear to church, casual enough to pair with jeans, not too loud, but not too boring.  He's worn it twice since Christmas.  Yesterday I realized I still hadn't sent her a thank you card.

Today I sat down with my card box and pen and started to write my thank you notes.  An hour later I realized that I was still going strong. It was humbling to realize how much had happened in the last month that we were grateful for.

Let me back up just a tad.  My husband lost his job in November 2009.  Even though there are some positive effects of the job loss (I get to see him now!), for the most part this has resulted in a major rise in our stress levels and a change in our financial situation.  No more eating out, a serious crimp on gift giving, deep discussions over every financial outlay.  We've tried not to focus on the negative, but it was a very different holiday season for us. 

The interesting thing has been that instead of spending our holiday season shopping, we spent it with friends and family.  Instead of going out to the cineplex or renting movies, we broke out the board games. In fact, except for the minor discomfort of not having gifts to give our extended group of friends and family, this was one of the best holidays we've had.  It sort of snuck up on us, too.  It wasn't until this week when I was writing thank you cards that I fully appreciated the value of the people in my holiday.  I'm going to rectify this oversight by making a conscious effort to be more grateful on a daily basis in 2010.  

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some more thank you cards to write.