I remember during the summers my mom would give us a long list of chores to complete each day. We would groan in the morning when we would see her full sheet of yellow pad paper crammed with our chores. Then, we would put the list aside and go outside and enjoy the day, play with our friends, whatever we wanted, sometimes we would even get started on the list. When she called us at the end of the day to tell us she was heading home, we knew we had T-30 mins to complete the huge list. This now became a challenge, a game, and no longer a chore and we all know how much we love competition. Usually we completed all the tasks and had a happy mother. Sometimes it was evident that things were done in a rush and had to be done again. My favorite part of all of this was to cross each completed task off the list.
To this day, I still love this sensation. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that I like having detailed lists of what to buy, what tasks to complete or what is expected of me. It is concrete and clear. If all things are done and done well, then it is a success. Maybe because I have come to realize the real world is not always this black and white- there are not always lists and clear objectives and tasks- that I long for the days that were. Regardless, you can always count on me to have a pen and a scrap piece of paper in my bag to quickly jot down that next thought which will surely turn into some kind of list.
