I’ve had a stack of announcements and envelopes sitting on my kitchen counter for the past 2 weeks, waiting for me to address and mail out.
They are announcing the high school graduation of our sweet Anya.
Every time I walked past the stack, I was reminded that the graduation has already passed and the longer I wait, the more weird it will be for people to receive (according to my brain anyway.)
That thought made me dread getting it done so much that it felt more and more difficult as the days passed.
But last night, I finally decided to sit down and just address one or two.
What happened next was fascinating: As I addressed each envelope, it made me more excited to keep thinking about who else we could send one to.
The more envelopes I addressed, the more gratitude I felt. My husband, Jeremy and I thought about each and every person who has influenced, mentored, loved and served our girl in the past 14 years since the time of her adoption.
Teachers, aides, church leaders, neighbors, family friends, school friends. The list kept growing, and as I looked up each address and wrote it on the envelope, I thought about that person and my feelings of gratitude and abundance multiplied. It felt much like a gratitude meditation.
Here are two lessons from this experience:
1. All you have to take is the first, simplest step on tasks that you’re putting off. (Like picking up a pen and putting it to paper, for example.) Once you do that, you tend to keep going. And before you know it, you’ve accomplished something that feels SO good to have done.
2. Slowing down and taking intentional steps always pays back. In this example, I got to feel love and gratitude. Two of my favorite emotions to feel. And BONUS… Future Heather (the one who woke up the next morning to find the task completed) was thankful. So thankful.
What are you procrastinating doing right now?
I invite you to take one tiny step toward getting it done: One text. One sentence written. One drawer tidied.
Let me know how it goes. I’m excited for future you.
