Winter Work

 I have things I would like to accomplish, and know that there is work to do is making progress toward the goals. Yet I find myself avoiding and putting off the tasks needed to move forward.  Procrastination is the term, I think.

This week I intend to do some of the mental work by identifying what I would like and then prioritizing.  My tendency is to wait until there is demanding need, then tackle it and my desire is to be more proactive in the way I focus my effort.

Much of what calls is boring, quiet and isolated work: Improving my core strength.  Creating order in hidden spaces.  Saving for long-term goals.  Eliminating items which no longer serve our family.  Cleaning, repairing, preparing for upcoming events.  There is nothing glamorous or immediately rewarding in this work.  

Winter is much the same way.  Where I live, it is the season when my garden rests.  Work is happening tucked away from view.  The evidence is unseen, the toil unappreciated until a future time.  Often we want a sweeping rescue to solve the dilemmas in life and yet I have witnessed and experienced that daily, regular commitment makes more impact than the grand gesture.  

May I be committed to that.  Delayed gratification is such a difficult concept for me to embrace.  I want results and I want them now.  Sometimes winter is sparkly and crisp.  More often, winter is gray and gloomy with one day rolling into another and little seems to change.  The work happening in this season, though, is what makes spring explode with life and color.  The work is worth the effort.