Currently our culture is drowning in consumerism. Which means ‘use it up’, ‘throw it away’, ‘use as much as you can as fast as you can’ and don’t think about what you just did, because you have to think about the next thing we want you to do or buy. It’s as if everything is disposable. Something doesn’t work, throw it out. Get bored with it, dump it and get something new and better. I mean everything is temporary, always being improved, and we always need new and better, right?
But what that teaches us is nothing actually has any value including us. If everything is disposable, so are we and so is what we do. And that is not in any way true nor is it a way that I feel comfortable living. More is usually just more and, although I know where are exceptions, usually when I choose to do something it’s because I have a very good reason and the end result will be worth it. So while it can be annoying, it may take time, it may take concentration and focus, it may make me uncomfortable at times, but it’s worth it to follow all the way through. It’s worth it to finish what I have started.
What I have found over the years is that finishing things not only allows me to complete the project/task at hand the reap the rewards from that, but it also has a significant fact on me emotionally. When I decided to do this thing, I made a mental agreement with myself that I would invest the time and energy and therefore get the payoff. Not completing something breaks that promise with myself setting up negative feedback. Finishing something allows me to feel the satisfaction that I followed through on a promise made to myself that my work, my efforts, who and what I am has value and is not something I’m willing to throw away. Finishing what I start completes not only the project, but completes a circuit in my self-esteem. I’m not a consumable item. I’m a valuable renewable resource. Here’s to managing resources wisely, a project that never seems to quite get finished….:)