Friday, September 11, 2009

Baby Steps to the End

There are moments in life when random things just kind of come together and deeper meaning is revealed in a way that I just have to believe isn't randomness at at all.

A couple of months ago, while reading a friends blog, I discovered the link to something called The Happiness Project. I was intrigued, clicked on it, read a bit, and decided that this was something good and subscribed to it.
http://www.happiness-project.com/

Last week, my mom, who is new to the Internet world, successfully forwarded me a message that had been sent to her by a lifelong neighbor and friend. She told me how special it was and really encouraged me to take a look at it.
www.simpletruths.tv/miami/movies.php?movie=DASH

Back to The Happiness Project... It had been a challenging couple of days. Some days are like that! The issues I was dealing with seemed too big...that's when I read on the Project page about what I call baby steps, or a Japanese concept called "Kaizen". It's a way of achieving continuous improvement by taking baby steps...not really a new concept, but it was presented in a different sort of way and was one that I needed to be reminded of. The timing was perfect and helped me deal with my current worries in a realistic achievable way.

Finally, I had the time to check out Mom's mail and that's when these 2 seemingly random things came together in a perfect fit...giving me perspective, inspiration and encouragement. Not to published, nor to be morbid, I'm working on writing what I hope my eulogy might someday be. Once I'm finished, I'm going to spend some quiet time being honest ...assessing if I'm living life, my "DASH" in a way I want to be remembered for. Jumping ahead, I already know the answer to that question. I have plenty of room for improvement! With God's grace and the help and encouragement of family and friends, I'll be taking baby steps to the end.

Wow! Talk about stopping me in my tracks. As I rereading my newly published post, I noticed the date and was vividly reminded with a flashback to the billowing Twin Towers of the value of a single day. Maybe, an appropriate baby step would be to live today like it was my end... the end of my "DASH" which might require taking huge giant leaps if there are things I've been putting off or want to be sure to do.... time to ponder and reflect.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tracey, I studied and implemented Kaizen as a business methodology but never thought to use it as a personal improvement process. Interesting concept. Makes me think.

Shawna

Thailand Tracey said...

Shawna,
I had never heard of Kaizen, but I was familiar with the ideas...the article, Why Might Small, Comfortable Changes Work Better than Radical Steps, found on the Happiness Project site really caused me to think...seemed to apply to a challenge I was facing. Funny story- I may be taking the concept to an extreme. I recently joined a gym, a big step for me. Last week I went once, but dressed to go 4 times!

Scott and Millicent said...

Tracey, I really treasure your thoughts and insights into making a life in a new place. Thank you for sharing your progress with us!