Wasted or Accomplished?

At the end of the day...do you feel it was all wasted or did you accomplish things during the day.  In order to answer this question, we must look at how to define accomplish. One definition is to finish it's goal or a conclusion.  It is to carry out; perform; finish: to accomplish one's mission.  Completeness.

I don't know about you...but I rarely feel at the end of the day that I have completed, performed to my maximum and finished several things.  It is more likely, for me to feel that I began hundreds of things and finished nothing, except making a big mess in the process.

On rare occasions, everything in my day falls into place and I complete many things, but this is Rare and definitely out of the ordinary.  So...are the days wasted if we didn't complete, finish, perform and accomplish?  I was reminded of this very answer a few days ago at the end of the day and I sighed, "I haven't gotten a thing done today."  It's at those moments you don't expect anyone to actually respond to you.  Well, my husband looked at me and said, "You took care of your family today.  Isn't that accomplishing something.?"  I just stopped and stared a few seconds as it sank it.  

That is actually accomplishing more than if I had completed or finished any other task.  It was a more important use of my time than all the To Do List's I could have written.  Why do we put pressure on ourselves to accomplish so many trivial things and feel like failures when we do not complete them, when in reality, the most important things to accomplish daily are probably not even written down and we often overlook them.

I have a challenge for you...One day this week, look at your To Do List.  Of course, we can't just throw them away, even though we would love to.  Our world would go into chaos quickly if we did.  As you look at it, place a 2 beside the things that you need to do and have significance to your day.  Then continue to number items with 3 and so on that you would like to do, but really does not carry any connotations if they are not completed today.  Now...Write in some things as 1's that you couldn't live without today.  These are the things that make the day worth living.  Greet your family with a smile.  Get a hug from a sleepy child.  Watch a few minutes of cartoons before heading out the door.  Just for a moment, remember when your kids would fit in your arms.  Say a prayer thanking God for another day.  Make sure you take time to do the number one things on your list and then...your day will not be wasted, but the most important things will be accomplished.