Valuing What We Do

I love this poem by Jonny Shapiro because it is such a nice reminder of valuing what we do, and of doing what we value.

“I can’t seem to get anything done” is something I hear often. And the folks expressing it are not usually sitting around watching reruns on the telly and eating bonbons all day. So what are they doing that is the “nothing” they are referring to?

We are all very busy. And those who know me well also know I have no issue with busy. I do, however, have an issue with not recognizing enough the value of what we do in fact do.

Often, we consider much of the work we do as things that "don’t count.” Well, I am here to say that laundry counts, fixing the car counts, making dinner counts, grocery shopping counts, bringing donations to the thrift store counts, mending, fixing, cleaning all count. These are all part of our lives, they all take time and effort, and they all need to get done. The problem is that often we forget to plan time for these things and we forget to appreciate the thought and effort required to do them. And if this week you didn’t do any of the things listed above, but instead seized the chance to sit with your family and watch a movie, or catch up with a friend, or read a book, then these too are worthwhile uses of time and effort because building relationships count, as does being informed even if it is reading the latest fan fiction.

So the next time you are feeling like you didn’t get anything done, I challenge you to reflect back on what you did in fact do. Those are things you also needed to do, and succeeded at getting done. Haven’t we all said at times "I need to catch up with so-and-so and I need to spend more time with the family” or something similar? Well, congrats, you did those things!

Doing what we value is important. But equally is the importance of valuing what we do.