60 Minutes

No.  Not the show.  Although I have to say I enjoy the news program.  I'm talking about an hour or sixty minutes of time.  What about it?  Well, I found myself a few weeks ago thinking that I had too much to do.  I had too many places to be.  And I felt overwhelmed by tasks I wanted to complete.

I decided to take one day at a time.  I would make my lists and take them slowly.  But even this was too much.  The defeat would set in before the day was done.  No, I didn't get my list finished.  And worse, my leftovers from the day before would be added to the next day making things feel out of reach.  And then a funny thing happened.  I broke my toes.  You know this already.  Some may think it was an inconvenience.  I choose to see this as a blessing.

If I hadn't fallen, I would have never been forced to take a break.  Literally.  I had to let others get things and do things.  I had to accept and be grateful for this.  I'm very independent and used to doing a lot for myself.  And for others.  Now it was my time to accept help.  Scott did more than his share around the house, with Gracie and to help me.  I love how we know each other so well that he can actually pick up on what I need and want.  Sometimes I found I didn't even have to ask.

I found that from the moment I fell, my girl could be there for me, too.  In fact the day I fell she was the first to respond.  Here she was, fresh out of shoulder surgery herself, hooked up to an ice cuff and rendering me aid. When I fell she unhooked herself  from her ice machine and brought me ice packs.
With her good arm she could carry a light basket of laundry to me and I could fold clothes.  Later, Scott would carry the basket upstairs.  Team effort.  We got things done and felt accomplished.

I scaled my lists back.  It wasn't reasonable to keep going at the lightning pace I had before. Then about a week into my injury I scrapped the lists altogether.  Who needs them anyway?  What needed to be done and addressed was attended to.  Others did these things just as well as I did.  In some cases even better.  It was a time when I became very grounded in the fact that my team works like a well oiled machine.

I have shed the walking boot I needed to wear.  I'm still taking things slow.  I come home from work and soak my foot and elevate.  And I'm still taking one hour at a time.  I do this not to avoid being overwhelmed.  I take 60 minutes at a time now to enjoy and to embrace my team and the time we have together.