Day 18 of 31: Every Successful Woman

What? This isn't a verse in Proverbs 31?

              On my desk at work, I have a mouse pad that my sister Rachel gave me, and it says, “Behind every successful woman is a substantial amount of chocolate.”

            This is true of me.  That is—if I want to think of myself as a successful woman. (The substantial amount of chocolate part is very accurate.) But I think the word success is so subjective….

            Some days I feel successful; other times I feel stuck.  Today at work, I felt the weight of having a lot to do, but I also felt the frustration of feeling inefficient, slow, stuck.  It’s a long to-do-list, so where do I start?  I walked into the workroom to make some copies, and my coworkers Krysten and Connie asked me how I was doing.  I almost said, “Fine,” but instead I sighed, “I’m feeling overwhelmed actually.”

            They laughed and joked with me, “I don’t know why that would be.”  They listed about 3 big projects that I’m involved with this week at work on top of the fact that I just moved into my new house. 

            I’m not necessarily stressed about organizing everything in my house, but I am feeling some high-strung anticipation.  (Is that the same thing as stress?)  My water softener is finally working as of 4:00 this afternoon, so I can now start using the shower and the dishwasher, but I need to hang my shower curtain and clean the tub when I get home tonight at 10pm if I want to use the shower in the morning.  My kitchen floor is being replaced tomorrow, so I can check that off my list then.  Last night my parents and I carried in about 20 boxes of stuff that had been in my bedroom at their house...and I had already carried in 5 carloads of stuff from my room this past weekend.  First, I want to know, How did I have so much stuff crammed in my little bedroom? Secondly, I want to know, Why do I have 150 t-shirts?

            But the boxes and t-shirts will have to wait until after this weekend.  I have some priorities at work—setting up for our fall festival, a new check-in system for our children’s program, and speaking for a few minutes at our Orphan Sunday service.  These are all important to me. I’ve been looking forward to them for a long time, so they take priority of my time and energy.

            It’s weeks like this that being successful isn’t about perfectly planning every detail or trying harder to keep up with everything.  It’s about leaning my head on my desk and praying for God to give me strength.  It’s about writing the tasks down and asking God to help me to do each one…then feeling a little accomplished when I finish a task.  It’s about giving thanks for the opportunity to work on meaningful tasks even when I look in the mirror, and my eyes look tired and my outfit looks sloppy.  It’s about finding joy in the process, appreciating the time I get to spend alongside old friends and new friends.  It’s about being patient and content to be able to enjoy today.  It’s about remembering that I will take an extra day off next week; it’s about looking forward to my Sabbath.      

            If I’m a successful woman, then I guess every successful woman probably has some boxes on her floor, a dresser in the back of her car, Halloween candy in buckets in her office, and a house that will take several weeks of TLC before it feels super homey.