Just One Thing

This morning this post, below, came to my mind as I laid contact paper in the upstairs vanity then covered a small box of doilies I keep inside.

 Just one tiny improvement, yet it felt grander than that. I open the cupboard now and smile when I see the yellow and red floral contact paper--so cheerful! (And besides, it feels good to make any improvement upon this day, to control something and make it brighter, what with the economy being what it is.)

So here's my old post, an oldie, but I hope a goodie:

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Years ago I read that a woman made one new improvement to her home each day--and I was inspired! I mean, just think-- if you changed only one thing about your home or about your life each day, by the year's end, you'd have made 365 changes.

And the kinds of changes I'm speaking of are simple:

Place some flowers from your yard in a vase.
Rearrange the furniture in one room.
Wash one shelf of knick-knacks.
Clean-out one closet, one drawer, or one cupboard.
Paint one chair or one wall.
Place pretty contact paper in one drawer.
Run one errand.
Dig one flower bed.
Create one quiet reading corner just for you.
Rearrange the items on one table.
Deep clean one room.
Gather one bag of cast-offs for a thrift shop.
Wash one decorative pillow.
Hang one picture.

I'm sure you can think of a hundred more 'one things'. Non-oh-so-daily things (the stuff you 'should' do each day doesn't count).

Sometimes we just get stuck on the couch in an overwhelmed frame of mind, dreading the one-hundred things which need to be done. And sometimes just by standing-up and doing that one simple thing, we're then inspired to do one more and then another. 

Pushing past the awful weight of lethargy and hopelessness can be the start of creativity-released. One thing--one new thing a day. 

I love that.

It also works for relationships. One new thing to resuscitate that friendship I've let slide. One thing to show my husband he's still my favorite friend or one thing illustrating to my daughter she's always in my thoughts even though she's no longer living in our house.

--and on and on until one thing has become thousands of things over the years and feeling overwhelmed has become just a vague memory.



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