Undone

My life is half over. If I live to be 100, my life is half over … and the thing I want to do is public speaking. Not teaching Chemistry 101 or How to Edit a Manual but really speaking, saying something important, changing hearts and minds with words.

No more waiting? No more letting topics like One Thing lay on my desk, untouched and undone day after day? No more letting someone else’s urgent get in the way of my important?

I am now a full week behind in this 30-day writing challenge. Yesterday my pastor-friend used the word ship, as in Seth Godin ship. No more waiting!

Speaking. Changing minds and hearts. If this is my life’s task, the step I see before me today is defining important, the topics infused with the power to change hearts and minds.

I love that – the little word thing flowing from brain to keyboard this morning – the flippant reuse and reordering of words. Hearts and minds, minds and hearts, hearts and minds. This is fun!

Like fancy throw pillows on a plush guestroom bed, the number of topics is
a delicate balance.


Pillows can easily become stealers of time. Throw pillows never magically leap onto the bed in the morning, falling into an exquisite arrangement, a feast for my eyes. Fancy throw pillows might easily become too much and too many, laying in a cluttered heap, tossed carelessly into the corner of my bedroom.

Topics. Speaking. Changing minds and hearts. A list lays on my desk, to the left of my keyboard. A list written in pencil on lineless computer paper:
empowerment
vulnerability
heaven on earth
we can take it with us
not the $
but the people
relationships
Yes. No.

The list is no longer fleeting, written in pencil on lineless computer paper. The list, with a simple click, becomes a published post.


PHOTO: throw pillows on a plush guestroom bed in the home of friends, a spa and oasis, a place of grace and beauty and comfort



One Thing by Colin Wright
Do your work, and I shall know you. Do your work, and you shall reinforce yourself. – Ralph Waldo Emerson Take a moment, step back from your concerns, and focus on one thing: You have one life to achieve everything you’ve ever wanted. Sounds simple, but when you really focus on it, let it seep into your consciousness, you realize you only have about 100 years to get every single thing you’ve ever wanted to do. No second chances. This is your only shot. Suddenly, this means you should have started yesterday. No more waiting for permission or resources to start. Today is the day you make the rest of your life happen. Write down one thing you’ve always wanted to do and how you will achieve that goal. Don’t be afraid to be very specific in how you’ll achieve it: once you start achieving, your goals will get bigger and your capability to meet them will grow.