Have you ever noticed how much energy we put into "going big"? Everywhere we turn we are bombarded by slogans, motto's, company targets and personal admonishments to reach higher and go harder, work longer, get more, do better. The competitive nature of all of those things seems to become a wedge between people rather than a glue.
Maybe it's the unique time of life I currently find myself in or maybe it's the small little Rhonda voice in my head but one day I decided~ enough.
I am, by nature, a "go big" kind of girl. The very first petit point project I decided to tackle was not some little 4 x 4 square starter...I bought a $120 kit of Blue Boy (back in the mid 80's that was serious dough) and decided I was going to learn how to do this. It was roughly 11 x 15 and it took me a LONG time, mainly because I had no idea how to petit point and had to teach myself how~ before the days of you tube tutorials!
I didn't stop there. A number of years later I decided I was also going to teach myself how to knit and rather than start with a scarf I figured I'd do a sweater. One sweater turned into 2, kind of a his~n~hers combo which hubby hated (never was sure why he didn't like the matchy matchy thing) so I sold them to a specialty shop in Jasper. I had to turn down an offer from them to stock their store because the sweaters sold so fast. I seriously considered buying a knitting machine (yes indeed) and setting up shop as knitter extraordinaire but decided life was way too full of interesting things to get stuck kicking out wool garments for the perpetually chilled.
I've taken a run at canning...that got kind of explosive. I learned a valuable lesson in taking my time, not rushing, not throwing cold jars of beautiful peaches into a canner that had been heated with a blow torch. Shards of glass, peaches and contorted canners are not so fun to clean up and the sound of things blowing up can be quite upsetting. Yes, upsetting would be the proper word to use...ahem.
Over time my ideas seemed to get more adventurous and climbing mountains became a passion. I loved the thrill of training for the climb, going to exotic locales and doing something physically challenging. I wanted to push myself to see if I could accomplish what I set out to do.
Those are examples of personal pursuits but I have also tried to go big in my professional life and one day I just stopped and wondered what it was all supposed to mean...what is it truly about?
I was mulling over an idea...what if I decided to go small instead of big for awhile. What would that look like? What would my daily choices be if I wanted to make a difference and do meaningful things in a small way? Rather than being eaten up by the frenzy of more, better, bigger, longer, higher...
Maybe it's the unique time of life I currently find myself in or maybe it's the small little Rhonda voice in my head but one day I decided~ enough.
I am, by nature, a "go big" kind of girl. The very first petit point project I decided to tackle was not some little 4 x 4 square starter...I bought a $120 kit of Blue Boy (back in the mid 80's that was serious dough) and decided I was going to learn how to do this. It was roughly 11 x 15 and it took me a LONG time, mainly because I had no idea how to petit point and had to teach myself how~ before the days of you tube tutorials!
I didn't stop there. A number of years later I decided I was also going to teach myself how to knit and rather than start with a scarf I figured I'd do a sweater. One sweater turned into 2, kind of a his~n~hers combo which hubby hated (never was sure why he didn't like the matchy matchy thing) so I sold them to a specialty shop in Jasper. I had to turn down an offer from them to stock their store because the sweaters sold so fast. I seriously considered buying a knitting machine (yes indeed) and setting up shop as knitter extraordinaire but decided life was way too full of interesting things to get stuck kicking out wool garments for the perpetually chilled.
I've taken a run at canning...that got kind of explosive. I learned a valuable lesson in taking my time, not rushing, not throwing cold jars of beautiful peaches into a canner that had been heated with a blow torch. Shards of glass, peaches and contorted canners are not so fun to clean up and the sound of things blowing up can be quite upsetting. Yes, upsetting would be the proper word to use...ahem.
Over time my ideas seemed to get more adventurous and climbing mountains became a passion. I loved the thrill of training for the climb, going to exotic locales and doing something physically challenging. I wanted to push myself to see if I could accomplish what I set out to do.
Those are examples of personal pursuits but I have also tried to go big in my professional life and one day I just stopped and wondered what it was all supposed to mean...what is it truly about?
I was mulling over an idea...what if I decided to go small instead of big for awhile. What would that look like? What would my daily choices be if I wanted to make a difference and do meaningful things in a small way? Rather than being eaten up by the frenzy of more, better, bigger, longer, higher...
how about quietly
how about softly
how about slowly
how about with intent
how about so small no one would notice
The fact of the matter is that I can't un-crazy myself, as much as I would like to. I will still try all sorts of wacky things and push myself, all I can hope for is that I don't hurt myself in the process. I guess the great thing about going small is that I can do that every single day without buying a plane ticket, training or learning a new skill.
Write a note to someone who needs encouragement, smile, help an elderly person across the street, treat the love of my life with respect, share a laugh with a friend, buy flowers for someone who is having a rough day, act with integrity and honesty even when no one is looking. All of those things (and more) have such incredible value but sometimes we neglect the small because the big things scream for our attention.
How about a new catch phrase for 2013...
~go small or go home~
I like it.
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