Make 2015 a Dread-Free Year

Happy New Year!

Like most people, I have a few things I’d like to do better now that the calendar has given us a fresh start.

One of them is to stop dreading spending time doing something that’s so simple it’s almost embarrassing.    I hate filing my personal bills/receipts – insurance, credit card statements, etc.  Until yesterday I had a pile that was a foot tall – about six-month’s worth.  I just kept putting g new bills on the top of the pile because I hate filing so much.  Filing seems like such a waste of time – until I need to lay my hands on something really quick and then, of course, I’m glad things are so organized.

The stack of papers is on the floor of my den in front of the cabinets where they should be filed.  I put it there to remind me to file them – and all it does is annoy me every time I walk by.  I put so much energy into dreading the idea of filing these pieces of paper that it actually can spoil my mood.  Just not like me to do that – but there it is.  We all have something we just hate to do, I suppose.  For my wife, it’s putting sheets on the bed after they’ve been washed.  She just hates the idea of it more than just about anything, even though it takes under 5 minutes of time.  We’ve timed it to try and show that the task shouldn’t be so dread-filled – yet it is.

At about 11:30 on New Year’s Day eve I was in a New Year’s resolution state of mind.  I sat on the floor in front of the tv with the pile of annoying papers.  It was hardly hard labor!  I separated the papers into piles and then put them neatly into the appropriate folders in my file cabinet.  The whole process took about 15 minutes.  Before I knew it, I was done!  No more dread when I walk by the den.  No more foot-tall pile of papers on the floor.  Funny how little things can make your day!

I felt really proud of myself as I headed to bed.  Then something funny came to mind: the great comedy bit by Bob Newhart where he plays a psychiatrist who helps a woman through some things she dreads.  If you’ve never seen it, here’s the link – it will help get your new year off to a laughing start.   Besides being very funny, there’s a real lesson there.  I can’t tell you what though without spoiling the punch line.

As 2015 moves along I’ve vowed to keep that little lesson in mind.  Thinking about having to do something – the dread of it – is often times FAR worse than the act of doing it.  Don’t waste the energy – just keep moving and in the immortal words of comedian Larry the Cable Guy, “git ‘er done!”

Wishing you a happy, healthy (and dread-free) 2015!