Just Do It!

Monday afternoon I was building a couple of walls to cover with lattice. They extend out from the deck by a 2x12, are 8' long and make up the corner on the south and west sides of the patio.  We'll plant climbing flowers from the ground and have planters on the 2x12s with vines that will hang down. Once I borrow a truck and get the lattice up, I'm sure that it will look nice.

Those of you that know me well, know that building stuff is not really my thing.  As a matter of fact, this project replaces an earlier project that didn't last.  As I was building it, I was thinking about when I worked at a lumber yard (many years ago).  Whenever we had to build a new display or work with lumber and tools, the guys would always make fun of me.  I'd respond by telling them that if they would have asked me if I could build things when they hired me, I would have told them the truth. But they only asked me if I could sell the stuff, and that's what I do! Since I led the store in sales every month, they'd leave me alone -- until the next time.

I was taking a break and thinking about putting off finishing the job when I made the decision to stop thinking about what I didn't want to do and just do what needed to be done.  Sometimes, that's really what we need to do. It wasn't a matter of whether or not I liked what I was doing; it simply needed to get done.  I've had other jobs like that in the past.

Working at the aluminum factory wasn't fun. It wasn't something that I liked. It was incredibly hot in the summer and very cold in the winter. The pay wasn't so hot and we worked tons of overtime.  I did the job because that's what I needed to do.

I've worked in "boiler rooms" making phone calls soliciting subscriptions for the St. Louis Post Dispatch newspaper.  I've been up at 2am to deliver newspapers in the downtown St. Louis area before going to work selling insurance.  Again, not things that I liked but things that needed to be done to pay the bills.

It's easier to do those things without the complaining.  Complaining doesn't get the work done and creates an atmosphere that is non-productive. It's a lot easier to just focus on getting the job done. I'm going to start adapting this attitude to other areas of my life...beginning with:

Exercise.  Yeah, not my idea of fun.  Even when I was younger and had to run for track, it wasn't fun.  I was never one to 'like' running.  I don't really like any particular form of exercise but would probably say that weight lifting is the thing that I have disliked the least and will probably add it into my daily routine at some point. Tuesday I started exercising by riding on our exercise bike.  I had to get up early to get it done before work, but managed to put in 30 minutes.  Wednesday I managed a full hour. I'm not doing it because I like it. I'm doing it because it needs to get done. I'll post my times on Facebook...just to keep myself motivated.

I'll write more as I add other areas of this "Just Do It" philosophy.

John <><
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