Debi Simons
Seeking Happiness for the Wrong Reasons
I haven’t written about a book or movie for awhile, which doesn’t mean that I haven’t been reading or watching anything. I’ve been wending my way through a hefty history of Rome which will show up at some point, and we’ve recently watched nine of the 10 episodes of ‘Making a Murderer” on Netflix. I don’t think I’ll be recommending that one–what a downer!
My Personal Checklist Manifesto
I said in the previous post that I would show pictures of my attempt at some kind of personal checklist, an idea I’ve been thinking about for awhile. It comes from two sources: The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande, a book I mention in my own book, and Marla Cilley, the Flylady. Surely you’ve heard of her. I think her original book, Sink Reflections, shows up in my bibliography. (Just so you know: I signed up for her e-mails and lasted about a week, as I couldn’t stand the deluge, the avalanche of chirpy messages I got daily. Yikes! And I do not, not, not go around breathing in and thinking ‘I love” and then breathing out and thinking ‘myself.’ Double yikes. Or yuck.) Anyway, Cilley recommends that you keep a regular-size three-ring notebook with every conceivable task laid out, put in sheet protectors, and mark off the day’s/week’s/month’s lists with a washable marker. When you’re ready to start again, rub off the checkmarks. But this just wasn’t something I was ever going to do. Where would I keep the notebook? I thought about putting up laminated lists in various places, but that didn’t seem workable either.
Don’t Go Off Half-Cocked!
Honestly! You’d think I’d learn. Two days in a row this week I’ve assumed I knew where to go somewhere and didn’t bother with the GPS. On both occasions I wasted time wandering around until I finally figured out where I was going.
The Triumph of Hope Over Experience
Are You Shouldering Too Many Burdens?
Will Buying a Broncos Hoodie Make Me Happy?
What’s Your Why?
I am shamelessly borrowing from an excellent sermon preached on the first Sunday of this year by my pastor, Josh Waltz. (I’ve done this borrowing before and will certainly do so again.) He started out by referencing Stephen Covey’s classic The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: “Begin with the end in mind.” Covey asks his readers to ponder what they’d want to have said about them at their own funerals, listing four groups who might give eulogies: family members, friends, co-workers, and fellow volunteers in some organization. Each group would have a different perspective.