Daily Gratitude: We hear this concept stated in so many different ways that you’d think it would sink in but most of the time it doesn’t.

How many times have you written out lists and ideas of things you want to do and “plan” to do? I bet your answer is at least once or twice; maybe even more.

How many times have you taken action on those things? Maybe you started planning. Maybe you even set down a great list of how you’re going to accomplish something.

Did you follow through on that list and the planning? How many times did you take NO action at all, just leaving the list to eventually be discovered by people who come after you? I should clarify what I mean by “come after you”. I mean your successors not the cops or the bill collectors type people coming for you.

That’s one great thing about this Novel November (formerly existent as National Novel Writing Month). If you want to participate, you have to write 1666 or 1667 words every day in order to get to 50.000 words. That’s pretty simple. It’s not easy even for someone like me who’s pretty wordy. Life gets in the way. But this is relatively short term – 30 days, 50,000 words. No one judges you. It’s an honor system but you know yourself what you have to do. The words may end up being deleted or expounded upon but you’ve written them.

Lots of things happen during this month but I won’t go into them in this post but people take these smell steps. They don’t just plan. And amazingly several hit books have come from this world wide tiny action steps.

What actions or deeds (small steps or deeds) can you do on one of those old lists? Can you start today?

Daily Gratitude: I’m certainly NOT a minimalist but maybe this quote is trying to encourage me to head that way (it is better for it to be a process, not an overnight wonder so to speak. It will “stick” more).

I used to be like a little kid (yes, there’s my protectors again) and was attracted to all those bright shiny objects. And maybe i still am to a certain degree. But the problem was that after awhile they would lose their shine….and I would lose interest.

I was looking for something else. Was it comfort? Was it love? Was it companionship? Was it even a feeling of belonging? I don’t know. Maybe it was a combination of all of them.

But, now that I understand mySelf and my family (my parts) I’m not so addicted. I can find peace and love and belonging in the right places, not in an inanimate object. It becomes easier to let go. I said “easier”. I’m not totally there yet.

Last week I was able to let go of something very hard for me. I released two cars – one I’d had for over 30 years and the other for over 20. My parts were in a frenzy but we’re working on it. I should have prepared them first. Now I know better.

This has created space in my garage and in my life. Now my task is to keep that space from immediately filling back up. It’s a step in the slow method of becoming content with less. I don’t know if I could ever get to “little” as this quote says but it’s worth aiming for. In fact it is going to be on my 2026 goal list.

What about you? Can you be content with little. Content doesn’t mean begrudgingly accepting it. It means being happy with your life.

Daily Gratitude: Why talk about goals now? Because it’s just about 6 weeks to the first of the year and most people procrastinate on starting a new goal until 1 January although there is absolutely nothing magic about that number. It’s just a number.

If you have a goal that you have to figure out how to procrastinate on m, is it really a goal? A goal should be something you really want. And it it’s something you really want, then you should be chomping at the bit to start on it. Not saying “ok I can wait another 6 weeks. That tells me that it’s not really something that you have a burning passion for.

Start now!

And don’t ever say “I’m too old” (that’s my line). You aren’t. Maybe you won’t complete it but maybe you will. And remember that it’s the journey, the process that matters most. What you will learn by doing however much you get done will enrich your life more than you know.

Remember that I was 70 when I tried to walk across the US. No, I didn’t finish so technically I didn’t achieve my goal but man, what I learned and experienced in the part I did do was beyond belief.

Start thinking now and then start working on your next goal. Don’t wait