As long as I can remember, I have had a ‘to-do list’. Always listing, but never completing. It seems as though every time I just about complete this dreadful list something else needs listed only to carry over to the next day. If you are anything like me and I surmise that most people that spend their lives chasing a completed to-do list are like me then you know that without this list you feel naked. Who knows why. It just is.
At first, this list was my saving grace or so I thought. As I checked each thing off I felt a sense of accomplishment. This list was like my left arm (I’m left-handed). Without it I was lost and nothing seemed to get accomplished. I was so rigid that I was soon listing things such as take a bath, brush my teeth, get dressed. I know, nuts, but nuts I was. The more I could check off the more I accomplished. At least that was my philosophy. Who forgets to bathe? Brush their teeth? Get dressed? I mean, am I going to leave naked if this is not on my list? Hardly, but back then I did not think of it that way.
The worst part of my mania was my list had to be neatly written with no misspelled words or sloppiness. So, when a mistake was made and there were many, I would rip that one up, toss it and start another. Needless to say this occupied a lot of my time. Just plain neurotic behavior that caused not only myself misery, but those around me misery, as well.
As I have gotten older I’ve realized that this to-do list is a waste of time and energy. Instead of the feeling of accomplishment I sought I felt stressed all the time. My list got longer and longer with fewer check marks attached. I realized that the time put into this could be better used enjoying people and places. So, I quit. For a brief moment. I was lost without my faithful companion.
I picked back up where I left off. The good news is I did finally put that demon to bed. It wasn’t easy, but with enough willpower and the sense I still had left I accomplished checking off ‘Put to-do list to bed’.
Life is easier, lighter, and time seems to go further. I still make list at times of important things. I mean with age comes memory problems so I have a legitimate excuse. But, the craziness that goes along with list making has ceased. My craziness is better spent elsewhere.
There will always be things on the to-do list that do not get done and carry over and over and over. My take on this? If it continues to carry over day after day it is just not that important. Check it off…
When God Speaks 
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