"He who begins too much accomplishes little."--German proverb
This quote resonates with me. My computer is filled with barely started, half-finished, and nearly finished stories. They range from romance to historical to suspense. What they all have in common, though, is that they remain unfinished.
Teachers occasionally said of my children when they were younger, "They have a hard time staying on task." I can't criticize as I, too, have a hard time staying on task. The moment I don't know what to write or come up floundering with what my characters should do next, I leave that book and start another. That is why I have nearly two dozen unfinished books languishing in cyber-space.
Do you suffer from task-itis as well? Perhaps you are like my sweet mother-in-law and have quilt squares that never made it into a quilt or a knitted sweater, all finished but for the buttons. Friends and I laugh together over the craft projects that we started and are now stuffed at the back of a closet.
The cure for task-itis is to grit one's teeth and stick to one project until it is complete. Easier said than done.
What about lives left unfinished? What do I mean by this? I have qualities that I want to develop, to acquire, yet they languish in my wishes rather than finding their way into my being.
This I know for sure: an unfinished book never has a chance to be published. An unfinished life never has a chance to be fulfilled.
This I know for sure: my unfinished projects are cluttering my life!
ReplyDeleteI'm with Deliese on this one. I hate unfinished projects because not only do they clutter my house but they literally clutter my mind and I spend a lot of energy focusing on what is unfinished.
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