Eclipse of Action
The solar eclipse brought back a childhood memory of the local carnival in our town. There was a game at a booth that involved completely covering a red circle with smaller gray metal circles, laying them on top of the red circle. Each time I tried there was always a piece of the red showing through underneath; thus not winning the stuffed animal prize. How to completely cover the red circle eluded me. On Monday, where I live in California, I was able to see an almost full solar eclipse with some sun still showing. Regardless the eclipse was awe-inspiring.
And what does this have to do with completing?
In my experience there are always those incompletes in our lives—the little pieces of “red” showing that grab our attention from time to time but we continue to ignore. In many cases they seem innocuous so we don’t pay them much attention yet they are still dragging on our attention. And when we finally tackle them and finish them, the prize lives in the joy of completing.
I have had a stack of CDs/DVDs to either add to iTunes (if I didn’t already have them) or listen to or toss. I just haven’t being willing to take the time to look at them. It’s one of those projects I just put off conveniently categorizing it as a Someday/Maybe. Today the stack is gone, no longer an eclipse of action.
I took on that spot of “red” and picked up the stack, made the decisions needed, loaded the ones I wanted into iTunes and instantly experienced an increase in clarity—the true prize. And it was finished within an hour.
Now the circle is complete and I am grateful for the eclipse made visible.
Martha Invitations:
1. Look for any “red” incompletes being eclipsed in your midst.
2. Notice if you cover up something you prefer not to address and put on the bottom of the stack or stuff in a drawer. And just do it.
3. Keep yourself honest with what you intend to finish or let it go.
Martha