Ruminating



Sometimes I hesitate to jump on the band wagon. I often slow down before jumping in to something, whether it is a new curriculum or a commitment to volunteering. I need to consider if it either fits in to what I know and believe, or if I can sustain the commitment. Too many times I have committed to things that I can't sustain, and it never feels good to back out.

So, before signing on to something, I ruminate over it: Does this jive with what I know and believe? Does this fit with who I am as a person or who I want to be? Will this end up being the "one more thing," or will this be time well spent?

For years I had wanted to be part of a book club, but the commitment to reading (an adult) book every month, and giving up an evening a month, was more than I thought I could manage. Where did the book club fall on the scale of "time value"? I finally joined one last year, as time opened up with my kids now grown. I have found that the friends in the club bring breadth to my world, and the reading the same. I was late to the game, but it was worth jumping in.

The SOL March commitment was similar for me. I was interested in writing daily, since I consider myself a perpetual fledgling writer, but I was reluctant to commit to managing the posts, and writing daily, and publicly.

The tipping point to committing was when I read some posts of colleagues and realized that this was truly a community. Writing daily for an audience does fit in with who I want to be and who I am as a person. I am confident it will be time well spent. I am looking forward to the commitment, and to growing through it.

Firsts and Seconds

Why is the second of something less fulfilling than the first? "How many potatoes do you want?" I asked my husband. &...