It’s a glib little phrase designed to appeal to the man in all of us. Living by its precept supposedly signifies that you are a man of action and purpose; a man with integrity. In reality it means you are a man without enough time to finish anything.
Step into the now, Grandpa. We’re no longer living in the 15 mph, backwater world of Mayberry RFD. Things happen fast these days. My list of things to get done today is longer than my last grocery receipt. I don’t have time to do them all “right”.
I have to pick my battles.
When it comes to getting stuff done, I want to be a lean mean “getting stuff done” machine, and that means sometimes “just good enough” is good enough. Some things on my list are urgent: fixing the dishwasher, attending a meeting, or finishing the trim in the family room. They mostly have to do with the things in my life. Others are important: helping the kids with homework, taking the wife out for dinner, or playing a game with the kids before bed time. These usually have to do with the people in my life. I think a real man of action and purpose is one that budgets his time well enough that the urgent stuff never tramples over the important stuff.
That means letting some of the urgent things languish.
Sometimes I get flack for that. I've decided not to care. Other people, and the rush of life in general, have little appreciation for the important things in my life. They will happily bombard me with urgent things until there is time for nothing else. Screw that. I know the balance I need to strike in my life, and I'm happy with the choices I've made. Sometimes the urgent things will simply have to wait. And the next time some old well-meaning codger tells me "anything worth doing is worth doing right", I'll just smile and say "Golly mister, thanks for the swell advice."
Sometimes I get flack for that. I've decided not to care. Other people, and the rush of life in general, have little appreciation for the important things in my life. They will happily bombard me with urgent things until there is time for nothing else. Screw that. I know the balance I need to strike in my life, and I'm happy with the choices I've made. Sometimes the urgent things will simply have to wait. And the next time some old well-meaning codger tells me "anything worth doing is worth doing right", I'll just smile and say "Golly mister, thanks for the swell advice."
"I think a real man of action and purpose is one that budgets his time well enough that the urgent stuff never tramples over the important stuff". Best sentence it this post... something I will think about today. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteOh, and I really like the latest version of the blog header. :)
ReplyDeleteyes, Aaron finally had time to finish it for me. What was up there before was just a place holder while he had time to finish up. He is very talented at the graphics thing - like everything else ;o)
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