Leaping out of February: The First Splendid Truth
As February, the short month that feels so long, comes to an end, I’m looking back over the “Remember Love” chapter and homing in on two points Gretchen Rubin makes that stick with me. First, “You manage what you measure” (65). During the moving process that has dominated my life since the first of the year, I find myself darting from one project or job to the next. I decide today’s the day I’ll get the kitchen organized, moving out all that doesn’t belong here. That includes all the extra kitchen gadgets, the duplicates, even the boxes that just got set down in the kitchen and have stayed there.
I find that as I take something where it needs to be–or at least to be stored–I find something there that captures my attention. I stop and begin a new project. At the end of the day, I see what I didn’t do, not what I did. I have decided to set a goal for the day and to find someway to acknowledge reaching that goal.
I also watch the formation of “The First Splendid Truth: To be happy, I must think about feeling good, feeling bad, and feeling right, in an attitude of growth.” That’s a mouthful. I’ve decide particularly to focus on the aspect of growth.
Finally, by the end of February, I am particularly glad that this move is not a solo project. My husband and I have made an adventure of it. We’ve moved furniture together–and then moved it somewhere else. We’ve hung pictures, shopped the home improvement store, made the most of the storage space at hand. Downsizing–one of our goals–presents a big challenge: what to keep (where to keep it), what to give away, what to throw away, what to store. I think we’ve worked well together. He also gets me to sit down and do something other than unpack occasionally.
Finally, I’m even recalling the challenge in January and trying to get a little more sleep–much easier since we’ve finally survived the horrible cold and cough that had us jarring each other awake.
Now I’m peeking over into March, when we’re all going to think about work. I think I’ll take a nap first.
Alabama Tar Heel 
I think during this recuperation process, when I’m not going many places, I’ll tackle some “glory holes,” as my mother-in-law called any place that’s a big mess. And I have plenty of them. Maybe I’ll attack my side of the bathroom next week. Frank’s vanity is soooo neat, very much uninteresting; however, mine looks like the store that I’m not supposed to be. And if you opened the drawers, you’d probably have a heart attack! What a mess! Concerning your last line, a nap helps almost anything. When I used to travel the highways and byways of Florida and get so sleepy in the afternoons, Wendy told me that I just HAD to learn to stop for a power nap . . . just 10 minutes or so. She assured me that I’d be able to drive at least a hundred miles before needing another one. So I made myself stop in McDonald’s or Holiday Inn Express parking lots to snooze for a few minutes. Amazing! The daughter teaches the mother. Not unusual in our family!