Copyrighted by Lorna Tedder. Originally published in Third Degree of Truth.
The best thing about working with a mentor is the positive-oriented objectivity and the resulting epiphanies.
My mentor glances over my huge to-do list to see which goals I’ve met. There’s quite a variety that I’ve marked off and others that I’m close to wrapping up. Big things, little things, things that have been hanging over my head like the sword of Damocles….
– The back deck “project” is close to being finished. It’s a “project” because it has so many steps and I needed to break them down in order to accomplish anything at all. The main area and its walls are finished, as is the walkway. I still have a couple of spikes to tear out of the walls with my axe, but it’s close. I’ve pulled up the grass and weeds in the new area and we’re ready this week to lay bricks and set up the bird bath and new flowerbed. It’s been the daily sweat for much of the summer, but the end’s now in sight. It looks great from the living room windows and will be ideal for those quiet candlelight rituals alone under the stars.
– Several new book projects are nearly complete. They’re at the printer’s and I’ll have inventory in stock by September.
– All the cabinetry handles in the house have been replaced with newer, prettier ones, and ones that will match the new floor in the kitchen. The dog didn’t know what to make of my carrying around a power drill, but hey, it was quicker that way.
– I located some long-lost info I needed for taxes, plus prepared about a 3-foot stack of papers for filing and tossed out several bags that don’t need to filed or kept. The big garbage can never goes to the curb now without overflowing with things that are no longer part of my life.
– The girls and I had several nice dinners at home (Aislinn cooked!) with fresh flowers, candles on the countertops, quiet lighting, and good conversation.
– And on goes the list, pages and pages of to-do and to-done.
Then my mentor asks a simple question or two. “How do you feel about all the goals you met since the last time we talked?”
“Great!” I’m especially happy with clearing out things that have been weighing on me for way too long. I’m getting rid of old obligations and old stresses.
“What was it,” my mentor asks, “that supported you in realizing these goals?”
That one’s easy. My family. Specifically, the girls.
I guess she can tell by the look on my face that I’m having trouble wrapping my mind around this concept of support and that it comes from family. The last time I took a hard look at my goals and emotional support was several years ago. The girls were too young to offer much help then. With the rest of my family, I felt every dream was an uphill battle and that I was out there all alone battling for my passions and if a family member was by my side, it was usually to tie one hand behind my back so that my goals were even harder to fight for.
This is different. For the first time in…ever?…I feel like I’m getting support from my family in making my dreams come true.
Leave a Reply