I absolutely love my godparents. Since most of my blood relatives live an hour away or out-of-state, I have always liked living near my godparents and feeling as though I had some sort of family that was close by.
One day, in my mid-twenties, I stopped by for a quick visit, and my godfather, who is quite the character, randomly asked me, “How do you eat an elephant?” Confused as to why someone would even want to eat an elephant, I feebly mumbled the most logical answer I could come up with, “Uhhh, one piece at a time???” “EXACTLY,” he proclaimed, “You’re a smart girl!”
One day, in my mid-twenties, I stopped by for a quick visit, and my godfather, who is quite the character, randomly asked me, “How do you eat an elephant?” Confused as to why someone would even want to eat an elephant, I feebly mumbled the most logical answer I could come up with, “Uhhh, one piece at a time???” “EXACTLY,” he proclaimed, “You’re a smart girl!”
Essentially what he was trying to say was a MAJOR lesson I had to learn in my twenties -- big tasks aren’t successfully tackled in one night, but rather through overcoming one piece at a time.
In my teens and twenties, I over committed myself to clubs, extracurriculars, activities and the like. My zeal for wanting to make the world around me a better place often left me feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and stressed out. I became so accustomed to living like this, I would allot myself 3 to 4 mini-nervous breakdowns a year, as though it was normal.
After a series of unfortunate events, I decided that I was tired of trying to take on everything. I learned to say “no” to individuals and invitations and also to make time in my busy schedule for myself.
Something that I have to constantly remind myself of is that “slow and steady wins the race.” As a full-time teacher, committed member of my church, and participant in a dance company, my free time is limited and valuable. I have to make the most of each and every opportunity that is given to me and work on big tasks in small pieces at a time.
So, instead of blocking out 8 hours to sit down and write a paper (as I often did in undergrad), I have found that when filling out applications and writing grants, I need to break my writing into sections and work for 30 minutes at a time over several days. Instead of sitting down to read for 3-4 hours uninterrupted, I now read for short stints at a time, for instance during meals, before bed, or on reading days at school.
We are all given 24 hours in a day. But thankfully we don’t have to solve all of man’s problems within that short time span. Each day is another opportunity to faithfully tinker away at what we have been entrusted with; with diligence, dedication and time, we will have finally created a masterpiece.
Lesson Learned: A little bit goes a long way.
