Collecting my thoughts

In some ways this has been an uneventful year, in others it’s been as much of a rollercoaster as the preceding three or four! So simple lists of things that have stayed the same and things that have changed will largely suffice.

I’m still…

• Living in Leicester
• Working at Just, The Fair Trade Shop, a job I enjoy and which is teaching me lots about lots of things – what I’m good at, what I’m not good at, leadership, management, social enterprise etc.
• Involved in church-type things although roles (and, indeed, church attendance) are evolving.

I have…

• Moved twice this year – initially in with my brother-in-law’s sister and then to another vicarage occupied by a single lady clergyperson. I’m hoping not to move again for at least a whole year…
• A second part-time job which starts after Christmas, primarily cooking for a drop-in for vulnerable adults, but hopefully with the scope to develop new areas of working particularly using my growing passion for baking…
• Learned to make bread! With my own hands, not a bread-maker! Simple pleasures!
• Rediscovered knitting in a big way.
• Been on a silent retreat – not as silent as I’d anticipated! A great way to take some time out and reflect on all sorts of stuff.
• Made a wedding cake for a friend. One of the scariest experiences of my life. But said friend then commissioned me to make a 40th birthday cake for another friend, so it can’t have been too disastrous…
• Put on hold my exploration of ordained ministry for now. But watch this space… Not literally. That would be really dull.

Completer Finisher

Today has been productive. Very productive. In fact, I have some news.

Today I completed every item on my To Do list.

This might not seem a big deal to you but it is to me.

I love a to do list. I can't live without them. My brain has taken on sieve-like qualities and if I don't write stuff down there's no chance it'll get done.

But oddly I have a mental block when it comes to doing everything on my list. I like the sense of accomplishment I get when I cross something off, but most of the time I'll be quite happy just doing about 75-80% of the items on it. That rarely bears any relation to how challenging or time-consuming the tasks are - I just feel no real need to finish.

I had a friend at uni who came round for lunch most Sundays. I quite often ended up cooking and I started to notice that she always left a little bit of food on her plate. It didn't matter what we were eating, there was always just a little bit left at the end. After a few weeks of this I asked her why she never finished her meal. She looked slightly bemused and said she'd never really thought about it, she just did.

A few years ago, when I was on the Arrow Leadership Programme we had to do a whole load of personality inventories. Some I found really helpful, some I don't remember. All I remember from one is that I'm not a Completer Finisher. My housemate is. She has to see a task through from beginning to end - if she can't finish something in one sitting she'd rather not start. She has no problem doing everything on her to do list.

So completing my to do list really is a massive achievement for me. I genuinely don't think I've ever done it before and I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself, if I'm honest!

Question is, can I do it again tomorrow?