Finish-Jon Acuff
A few months ago I was browsing Self-Improvement at Half-Priced Books. This is a favorite date my husband and I take every few months when we’re up for the 45 minute drive to that bookstore. I always check this section just to see what jumps out at me, then I check the Christian Living section for anything by the handful of women authors that publish under that umbrella.
I found Finish by Jon Acuff. Jon wrote “Stuff Christians Like” awhile back and I used to follow his blog when I still followed blogs. Hmmm, I should try to figure out a way to start doing that again. Maybe. Anyway.
As per usual it took me a while to actually open the book up, but when I did. Man oh man. Lightbulbs for miles. You should totally read it. It is very straight-forward and permission-giving and surprisingly profound in it’s simplicity.
I’m going to jump us to Chapter 3 because so far it was my favorite chapter. So much of my own mental hoops etc are shown in this chapter. It is titled “Choose What to Bomb.” He opens with a seemingly out-of-left-field story about his lawn. Eventually he gets to the point.
You are never going to be able to do all the things, no matter what anyone tells you. So, just decide before you even get started what you’re going to bomb at. Decide ahead of time, for example, that you’re just going to pay someone else to deal with your lawn because you have other priorities and don’t care enough about the lawn to bother.
I managed to avoid my typical mental trap which is whatever relevant version of “but I don’t mind mowing MY lawn…” I decided a few things after reading that chapter.
Here is my list of things I choose to bomb.
- First and foremost, above and beyond anything and everything else, I decide to bomb my husband’s laundry. He’s a grown man who was doing his laundry just fine before me and can do it just fine on his own without my help. He is, also, however, someone who has zero care for whether or not something is wrinkled. I have literally watched him SHOVE fresh-from-the-dryer clothes directly into a wrinkled ball in the wash basket. But, I have other priorities. I have this blog, I have Patreon, I have books to write, and short stories to pen. If someone wants to get judgy with me about the wrinkled mess that my husband’s shirts are, then have at it. If you mention said judgy-ness to me, I will (possibly not so politely) inform you that he’s a grown-ass man who does his own damn laundry thank you very much.
- I decided I no longer care about making sure to eat our leftovers, or taking leftovers to work, or even trying overly hard to have “healthy” food at work. Nearly every “healthy” food I want at work needs to be refrigerated, which means I have to get up and walk away from my desk long enough to go to the break room and get it. This just doesn’t happen on a consistent enough basis to make this realistic. I’ve also given up on trying to make my lunch interesting. I like Lean Cuisine ravioli, so that’s what I have. Every day. Yes, 9 days out of 10 at a minimum. Sparky can eat our leftovers, and what we don’t eat, can usually be given to the pups.
- I struggled beyond these 2. Some ideas I had but haven’t fully executed.
a) Something about ordering groceries via an app instead of having to go in and get them. But Sparky and I do that sometimes as a sort of date.
b) Turning off shows we are re-bingeing over and over again.
c) Giving up on my “lazy weekends”. Yeah, this totally hasn’t happened. BUT, I am finding new alignment in my soul and mind with the new year and a new role at work etc, so, right now I’m still ok with being mostly lazy on the weekends, I’m trying to recover!
d) I give up on convincing myself I need to be “retaining” a certain amount from any non-fiction book I read or it’s not worth reading. I’m not reading statistical manuals or textbooks for a class. I’m talking books like Finish or Shonda Rhimes Year of Yes. Whatever i get out of them is great. I own these two, I can always come back and re-read them if I want to! - I am however, working on letting go of wanting a cleaner, tidier, whatever house. We have too much stuff, plain and simple. (Does that stop me from bringing home free shelving from work? No, no it does not.) I keep trying to purge, but I have a major complex about “But, what if I need it?” and even when I can get past that one I end up with “But I can sell it and make a few bucks.” Which I never do. So, that one I am still working on.
How about you? What kinds of things would you choose to bomb if you were going to shift your focus into much higher gear on goals you have in life? What things have you already chosen to bomb? I’d love to hear!
