The Satisfaction of Completion

This past Saturday was a big day for me. I had a major day of 'completion' in my life.

I completed the 're-setup' of my new laptop. I wrote about this last week when I was still 'in process' with it. I had to do the setup procedure twice, because my first hard drive was defective. Late in the afternoon on Saturday, I moved the final files to my new computer and the project was completed. I was filled with a sense of relief, satisfaction and pride. It was a big job. It was a job I would have rather not had to tackle. It was something I really didn't have the time to do. It was essential, and it was time critical. When I crossed the last item off my task list (there were 25 items on the list initially), I felt a wave of contentment sweep through my system. I'm not sure there is any better feeling than, "I DID IT!"

As if that weren't enough, I set out to work in my garden later that same day. The burglary of my home threw a spanner into my weeding plans. I should have been done with my last weeding pass before October arrived. Here is is near the end of the month, and I was still working to get the last weeds pulled before the leaves cover the ground and it becomes too cold to work outside. I was playing beat the clock... and beat the leaves! I didn't know that I would finish yesterday. Usually I work for 30 minutes or an hour, depending on how much time I have any given day. This particular day, as I worked, I realized that if I put in 2 hours, I could finish the task! I knew I was close, but I didn't realize it was that close!

When I pulled that last weed, I felt another wave of the satisfaction I'd felt 2 hours before when I completed my computer set up. I DID IT! I realized that all of the doubts I'd had about whether I could make it or not... were at last disproved. I was done. It was accomplished. I could take that item off my to do list until March rolls around. Thank goodness!

I'm going to get a nice little reward for finishing my yard work. The weather here is supposed to be really nice for the next several days. Now, I get to simply enjoy the beauty of these days without having to 'make hay while the sun shines' and pull weeds. How nice is that?

I wouldn't have made either of these goals if I hadn't plugged away at the tasks. As for the weeding, the days have been colder lately, and sometimes an hour was too hard on my hands, so I would only require that I work 30 minutes outside. All those little 30 minute chunks added up! I often felt a little guilty that I wasn't working 'my full hour,' but I kept myself from descending into an 'all or nothing' mentality and did what I could do.

The same applied to the computer project. I simply used available time to accomplish a task that would fit in that window, and eventually all 25 items on the list were crossed off and completed.

I've been having some struggles lately, so I guess the universe decided that I needed to have some successes. Completion is sweet. Savor it when it comes your way. As I sit here in my favorite restaurant, using my new (and fully set up) computer, looking out at the beautiful fall day... I'm reveling in my successes... and the satisfaction of completion.