One of the things that I think all of us needs to learn is how to be gentle with ourselves. We think of all the things we need to do, or that we “should” be doing, and we try to convince ourselves that we’re somehow not doing well enough if we don’t get them all accomplished. Here on the homestead, I’ve had a rolling to do list of projects that I’d like to do. Things that would beautify the homestead as well as make it a bit easier for us to do chores. One of these is cleaning up a corner by the hay shelter.
I won’t lie. This has been on the list for a couple of years, but between my health and everything else I’ve been dealing with, it’s fallen by the wayside. Yesterday, in the gorgeous late November weather we had, I began to tackle it. And it felt good! I’m not done yet. (If it doesn’t rain, I hope to finish today.) But it already looks so much better. And bonus, I found a couple of halters that I’m going to wash and probably redye since they’re faded by the sun.
On one hand, I could beat myself up for not getting this done sooner. It’s not like it was a big job. I think it took me maybe forty-five minutes to get it where it is now, and probably half an hour or so to finish. But on the other, I can celebrate a job well done, something marked off that rolling to do list, and move onto the next project.
We need to remember that small progress forward, no matter how small, is good progress. Let’s be gentle with ourselves. Let’s think about how we can take small steps to reach our goals. With every small step we’ll get closer and closer to accomplishing them.
