Skip to main content

Motivation/Anticipation

Image
By
I have needed to get something done for almost a year now, and I have put it off.

This project is ALWAYS in the back of my mind, nagging at me when I spend my free time doing anything but it.

____________

For my birthday this year, John bought me an underwater camera.  It wasn't what I wanted at all.  It was really a gift that John wanted.  I wanted an iPad.  I really wanted an iPad.

However, I never look a gift horse in the mouth, and I accepted the gift graciously.  Honestly, it was a gift seeing how excited John was about the camera.

Unfortunately, the camera didn't work very well.

____________

I came home from Michigan last week, and John announced that he had a surprise for me.  You guessed it--a brand new iPad!

Words can't contain my excitement, but as soon as I picked up the box (sitting on the kitchen counter), I knew that I couldn't open it.

I couldn't open it until I finished that darn project.  If anything would motivate me to get it done, this would!

______________

It has now been 10 l.o.n.g. days.  For greater motivation, I have left the unopened iPad on my desk, right next to where I have been working on my project.  In fact, it has often gotten in the way of my books and papers, but I have refused to move it.

Yesterday, I finished my project.  It's all packed up and ready to send, and believe me, I did a fantastic job on it.  You would think that I would tear into the iPad immediately, but strangely I haven't.

It's still sitting on my desk, unopened.

It reminds me of Christmas.  As Mark says, the anticipation of Christmas morning is more fun than the actual opening of gifts.  I must agree.

I look at the unopened box and think of all the fun I'm going to have!  Crazy, I know, but true.

______________


Okay, I'm signing off.  I can't stand it anymore.  Oh boy!!!  Get ready for some crazy "Draw Something" pictures, friends! :-)


Comments

  1. LinzApril 20, 2012 at 10:26 PM

    Oh my gosh, what was the project????

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sarah MoranApril 21, 2012 at 3:21 PM

    I recently heard something that has changed how I feel about motivation. Action leads to motivation which leads to more action. Instead of waiting to feel motivated to do something, I should just do it and the action will make me feel motivated. Congratulations on finishing your project; I am curious about what it was. Have fun with your new iPad!

    ReplyDelete
  3. John KennedyApril 26, 2012 at 4:13 PM

    Good Job Mommy Aris! You deserve the iPad and we took the camera back!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Quest for Birkenstocks

By
One of the main reasons I go to Germany every couple of years is to restock my supply of Birkenstocks.  I started buying them when I lived there, and I basically can't live without them now.  It just about kills me when a pair runs its course and needs to be thrown away.  I think in my lifetime, I've thrown away only three pairs.  One that never was quite right (the straps were plastic and would cut into my skin after a long day), one pair that I wore gardening one too many times (the brown dirt stains wouldn't come out of the white leather), and the pair that I was wearing when I broke my ankle (they were an unfortunate casualty of broken ankle PTSD because those purple and blue paisleys go down as one of my favorite pairs of all time).  I only threw out the garden ones a couple of days before I left for Germany, because I knew I would be getting a new pair. The only store where I have ever bought my Birkenstocks is Hoffmann's in Speicher.  (Well okay, t...
2 comments
Read more

Like Dominos....

By
It all began with glare.  Simple, obnoxious, I-can't-stand-it-anymore glare. Our 60" rear projection TV in the family room was basically unviewable except after 10 o'clock at night.  The glare from the windows was making it impossible to see anything during my 10 minute lunch break each day, and something had to change. Too, the TV didn't fit in the entertainment center from Germany.  John, wanting bigger and better, hadn't considered that the space is only 40" wide.  For the past five years, I have been nagged by 6" of overhang on both sides of the TV stand. I went to Lowe's to price blinds.  $1,043 for five blinds, and that was at 20% off. I figured a new TV would be cheaper than that.  I was right, even with the state-of-the-art receiver and new HDMI cables that sly salesman told us we needed to have. But where to put the old TV?  It just needed a quiet, dark place to retire. Glo's bedroom.  Her TV was a relic from the paleoneoneand...
3 comments
Read more

Your Life in Two Suitcases

By
I remember when Johannah told us that she wanted to serve a mission.  It was a couple of months after her freshman year had begun.  When she uttered those life-changing words, "I want to serve a mission," my heart sank.  Mark hadn't been home from his mission for very long, and the pain of having a child gone was still pretty fresh.  Let's just say that I wasn't at all encouraging. However, time passed, and when she actually submitted her papers, I was so excited for her.  I was excited for me too.  While I can't pinpoint any specific blessing that came to us when the boys were serving their missions, there is just a special kind of purpose that enters my life.  I can't really do anything without thinking about my missionary, and in some special way, my life is changed.  I write daily letters which, for an introvert, is cathartic.  I study my scriptures a little bit better because I want to be able to offer encouragement.  I'm constant...
2 comments
Read more