ONE THING AT A TIME

BY DR. GEORGE BIRTCH

Have you ever had the kind of day when there were so many things to do that you scarcely knew where to begin?

Things piled up on you. You postponed work that had to be finished and now the deadline is near. You stalled for time and now time has run out. You started doing one thing and then, before finishing, turned from it to do something else.

You were at sixes and sevens. Who hasn't had that kind of day? It makes you feel all "up tight". And when a person is tied in knots he is apt to do something silly. Anything that produces that kind of tension is a threat to our well-being.

What can one do? One thing that helps is to sit down and make a plan. Of all the tasks you have to perform, select one. It may be the most urgent one. Or it may just be the easiest one. But select one and then get busy and do it.

The very act of making a choice and doing one thing helps to relieve the pressure. You feel more ready then to do the next thing. But it be just one thing at a time. Finish that before you go on to the next item. Avoid unrealistic goals. Often we wear ourselves out because we demand too much of ourselves.

We allow ourselves to accept too many appointments or too many jobs. The result is frustration and tension. Once again sit down and plan more realistically. Set yourself a program for the day that is within your capabilities. If that leaves things undone, let them be undone.

Rome, as has been noted on more than one occasion., was not built in a day. I like what one of our alumni said in a letter. "After leaving Donwood" he said, "I kept the same job, but now it conformed to me and not I to it." It's a matter of getting back into the driver’s seat!

Don says: This is an important message to the alcoholic, and the general public who do not have a drinking problem. If we had followed this edict from birth, our lives would have been a whole lot simpler, howeve as human beings we were not wired for all the wonderful things that could make our lives better. Not only must we control our destiny, we must help others to do so.