facebook home page header pic

We are pretty good at keeping track of life’s events. Unfortunately we are too good at keeping track of failure, the things we didn’t do, the things we tried and failed at. We are too much in the “woulda, coulda, shoulda” frame of mind, taking ourselves to task for what we didn’t do. We are, as the saying goes, our own worst critic. But we need to be our best promoter instead.

How do we do that? It takes daily action to build especially when it is so easy to tear down. It takes planning and active intent. It takes habit building and resistance to negativity. There is so much negativity in the world around us, we don’t need to add to it. And rather than focus on all that needs to be done, sometimes we need to celebrate and give ourselves credit for what we have already done.

I included the picture above as a jumping off point for my recognition of accomplishment. I use the river creature as a bright highlight on my Facebook home page simply because it reminds me of the brilliant creatures all around me in nature. I strive to see the beauty all around in the midst of the chaos and darkness of our time. From there I make it a point to remember the brightness in my life to counter the negatives.

For the past 27 days I have been recording short Facebook live videos as part of a challenge. It has been instructive and I plan on keeping on until I reach the target day 80 (adapted from Darren LaCroix’s 77 day video challenge). And at the same time I have been blogging regularly every day along with the video posting. I can take satisfaction in that – not wondering where it will lead but just that I have been consistent.

On another note I just completed a road trip down to Oregon to start the process of going through my late sister’s stuff and I took some pictures. I took pictures because I wanted to note for myself the progress I had made. It is a daunting, ongoing process that will take a while, and with which hopefully I will have help from others. I have plans on how to proceed but it is good for now to be able to document what I have accomplished so far, as an encouragement, recognition, and stimulus to press on.

So what are you taking stock of regularly – accomplishments or failures? It is not wrong to note what things didn’t work. You can learn lessons from that in order to do better in the future. But you need to not fixate on those, don’t dwell on them, or let them define you. You also need to note the things that did work, the things you did accomplish, the successes and victories you achieve, no matter how small they may seem to you. They are just as important and just as valuable as lessons learned on how to proceed.