The end of the year is often filled with planning activities. For many creative people, though, the thought of planning is beyond boring.

It can be black and white — after all, it does involve looking at numbers. When you get right down to it, though, getting your big dreams and goals down on paper and figuring out how to accomplish them is creative. Especially when you get out those colored markers and pencils!

For more than ten years, I have hosted an annual Planning Day. We always start with looking back.

Instead of jumping into what next year looks like, take time to clear out this year. Look at the good, the bad, and the lessons learned. This will let you celebrate what you accomplished and put you in a positive place to start the new year.

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Today I am having lunch with one of my closest friends, something we try to do once a month. We could meet for coffee, only neither one of us drinks it. Of course, it is not about the coffee anyhow. It is about the connections. It’s about the companionship. It’s about the love.

I ran across this article again the other day. It has been circulated around the Internet for awhile now, and I don’t know its origin. It’s just a good reminder for when we think our lives are stuffed and unmanageable. When you get to that place, think about the mayonnaise jar and the two cups of coffee.

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A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “YES.”

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed. “Now,” said the professor as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things — God, your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions. And if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.  The pebbles are the other things that matter, like your job, your house and your car. The sand is everything else — the small stuff.”

“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Spend time with your spouse. Play with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with your grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner.  Play another 18 holes.  There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.  Take care of the golf balls first — the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled and said, “I’m glad you asked. The coffee just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”

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So, when you get the chance to meet up with your friends for coffee, take the opportunity. I am always grateful I do.

Photo credit: Hailey E Herrera Art Journey via photopin cc

This week’s article is a letter written by Kat Tucker, a quilter from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She was taken with the article last week and wanted to respond.

“I was sorry to read about those that feel that they are not where they think they should be. Oh boy, can I ever relate to that.

For me it has been a meandering journey. From the time I sold my quilt store with a five year clause of only being able to Internet sell, to losing my husband and having to go back full time, instead of staying part time, in our business, to closing the doors and semi-retiring, to procrastinating during the five years, to OMG the five years are finished and now what do I do? Oh, I know, sign on as Treasurer to the Canadian Quilters Association and use that as an excuse not to work hard, if at all, on my quilting business.

Well, the working not hard became taking course after course about learning about myself, my business, other peoples’ businesses and how they got there, and repeat, especially learning about myself. It got so comfortable taking these courses that the procrastination and the ‘fear of success’ lasted five years plus one more year.

Then one day, don’t ask me when, I decided to go to Quilt Market. Why? I finally got tired of saying, and I’m certain that my quilting friends also got tired of hearing me say, ‘I’m working on my business.’ So now, I’m walking the walk instead of talking the walk.

I go to market. It all seemed too easy to get there and be there. I wasn’t nervous or anything. In fact, I said to the universe, if I get one order I’ll be a success. Well! I got one order. LOL. Thinking back, perhaps I should have asked for more orders. On top of that order, I made lots of contacts and my friends introduced me to contacts with possibilities. One of which has been successful and is a step in the door.

During this journey I’ve always had in the back of my head that this is what I want to do. The journey to get to this point may have taken longer that it should have, not because I didn’t know my business or what had to be done, but because I was standing in my way. ‘Get out of your white man’s head,’ as a friend of mine keeps reminding me.

All that being said, today, I’m a person that has and still continues to trim garbage out of my life. I’ve finally seen that I cannot do exactly what another person did in their journey to become successful and then get upset because it didn’t work for me. That is their journey and this is my journey. Best of all, my journey will probably still meander but it can also be tweaked as it moves down the path.”

Please share your thoughts on this blog below. . .