'just do it'

but not mission creep

‘I have a suggestion’ got my attention because I love hearing other people raise options. So, I raised my eyebrows to elicit the next phrase as he came into the living room.

‘I think we should look at paying someone to clean the refrigerator and freezer.’

Expletive. What is wrong with me? I opened the refrigerator door fewer than 48 hours earlier, shook my head at the visual, made a note I needed to clean it because it had been a while, then merrily went about enjoying Saturday, then Sunday before this occurred this morning, well past the photo I took early.

‘No, we aren’t going to hire someone to clean the refrigerator and freezer’.

‘But, I think it would be worth it and then you wouldn’t have to do it….’ trailing his voice for fear, I suppose, of the unknown..

‘Uh, no. No one can do it as I alone have to do it’.

And I was off!

Wait, but why didn’t I slow roll it any further? Why was I the only one who could do it? I’m retired, I prefer writing this column or playing with photographs, or walking on the presumably last warm day of 2023, or some such. Wasn’t I looking a gift horse in the mouth, so as to speak?

Because I have learned the things we most dread usually are far less painful if we simply tackle them. I was much more irritated that Saturday’s avoidance choice violated a prime directive—break everything into the smallest pieces which you do sequentially until you have conquered the annoyance—than that I had to do it at all.

I am a big consolidator whenever feasible. I encountered duplicate containers of pickles and dill weed, and five bags in various stages of consumption of Justamere Farms maple granola, both of which irritated me for about 2 nanoseconds until I took actions. Yes, I did encounter assorted bottles of nearly-but-not-quite empty stuff but I had a plan.

With the marvel of a bathtub (see, all those new homes not including one might want to reconsider) and some retired clothes looking suspiciously like rags, I was done with both the freezer and the fridge in 80 minutes. That included organising both compartment far more usefully, leaving an entire empty shelf in the door of the freezer and vacating about 45% of the entire refrigerator. I tossed or consolidated items, shelves cleaned and reseated in the appropriate location, and even remembered to turn the freezer back up to the appropriate setting within 80 minutes of commencing. Then I had time to clean up the mess the bloody rats with tails, a.k.a. squirrels, made out front when they dug up my beautiful bulbs within 48 hours of their planting. (So much for the online suggestion to ward off the horrible behaviour by spreading crushed red pepper on the soil after planting. Either these squirrels eat as much spicy food as I do or the internet is wrong…take your choice. And we all KNOW that everything we read online is true, eh?).

There are countless chores I don’t relish, whether it’s sorting tax materials for April 15th or cleaning the fritterfratter/freezer or cleaning off the bed in the second bedroom when we have overnight guests, or other stuff I can’t think of right now. Watching my own behaviour and that of others over decades, however, taught me that just because I don’t eagerly welcome it, that doesn’t mean it’s going to require an investment of the remainder of my life to accomplish it.

I watch people elevate their blood pressure to Himalayan heights when they confront something they dislike doing, perhaps because they don’t like following someone else’s orders or deadlines or who knows what. It just isn’t worth stressing about to me because I know that every little action I take helps remedy the overall problem. Geez, it works, too.

It does help to have a discernible objective to know when I have finished, however.

I have also seen people who really enthusiastically embrace an anticipated quick project only to find it lasts three or four times longer than they expected because they add on to improve it. As we know, ‘mission creep’ is a real problem in foreign affairs and it can crop up in our own tasks as well.

I can only say all of this because I have learned the hard way. Reminding myself of prior occasions or, put another way, noting actions creating consequences, turns out to be productive for me. Might not be for you but I got the bloody refrigerator and freezer clean without the humiliation of asking someone else to do it. That person could not possibly know that I really did have a reason to save that little bit of pasta sauce so I could use it with the end of a bottle of undrinkable wine to augment a meal later this week.

Thank you for being part of this community of readers and commentators. I welcome any and all rebuttals, great anecdotes, and suggestions.

Oh, if anyone need chili powder, I have more than enough to keep you in fed for the entire winter. Send me a note…seriously.

Be well and be safe. FIN