Ch-Ch Changes

It seems my boys have grown up a lot over the last few months. I think Seth's triple whammy (crib-to-bed, no more pacifier, and potty trained) has thrown me for a loop, but William has been keeping pace. He's so much more independent now, and he's such a deep thinker. Tonight, William went to sleep without the bed rail on his bed. He looks like such a big kid!

It's a small step, but symbolic of greater changes that happen in small steps every single day. It's true for the boys, but it's true for Ed and me, too. It's a reminder that change is not a destination, it's a journey. There are changes I want to make in my life, but they will not happen overnight. I have to remember that it takes small steps. And I have to remember that trying to change habits and failing is better than not trying at all. I'm never going to change if I don't try.

With that in mind, my mantra for 2011 is to DO IT NOW. I have long been a self-proclaimed procrastinator and it's something I usually laugh off. But I've realized it's a real obstacle to achieving any sort of sense of accomplishment. Combine my ability to procrastinate with my penchant for laziness, and you have the perfect storm for inertia. I've been thinking a lot lately about self motivation and how it works for people. And I've realized that I need to start small, and I need to feel success. So I've been making my bed every day. (I've made it every single morning since Thanksgiving!) I've also been paying much more attention to picking up around the house, putting things away promptly, not letting things pile up. I've tackled several organization projects, like cleaning out my closet, cleaning out my desk, sorting through digital pictures on my hard drive, syncing my iPhone. It's helped to have time off to take care of these things. But it helps more to stay on top of them in the first place so that it doesn't require huge chunks of time to deal with them. Easier said than done, of course. But I'm trying. And when I tell myself (literally) to do it now, while I have a moment, while I'm thinking about it, it helps. I don't know why I put things off when it's often actually easier to just do it right then, but some of life's mysteries will never be resolved, I guess.

Anyway, I'm hoping that finding success with these smaller things will help me work on bigger things, like exercising. But I think I'll save that for another post. For now, if I can work on keeping the little things more manageable, then maybe I can find more time to focus on bigger things, like finally reading the photography book I bought last year, or making photo books, or making homemade bread, or reading more, or spending more QT with Ed. And maybe, just maybe, a little bit of success in changing my habits will be the boost that I need to FINALLY STOP BITING MY NAILS!!!! (I think this has been on my New Year's list of resolutions since 1985.)