Write about a time when you didn’t take action but wish you had. What would you do differently?

(I’d say the last thing I need to be doing is ruminating on wishing I had made a different decision, but the show must go on.)

I remember a time I didn’t take action. Well, I did act, but didn’t take The Action.

The sixth grade spelling bee was down to the wire. Just me and Tina Hansel. Her word was “socket.” She had a little bit of a twang when she spoke so she spelled the word (correctly, I thought) but it sounded like s-o-c-k-A-t. I heard her spell it (correctly, I thought) believing that her e was just a little twangy.

The superintendent of schools was overseeing the spelling bee. “I’m sorry, but that is incorrect,” said The Superintendent of Schools.

I was stunned. He then gave the word to me. I paused, racking my brains for what the spelling could possibly be. Finally, I spelled it, correctly, the same way Tina had.

S-o-c-k-e-t. “That is correct.” There must have been one more word I had to spell, but it is long gone now.

Now many years later I wonder about this memory. Were there others who thought she spelled it right? Why didn’t anyone speak up? I don’t think she would have misspelled that word.

I felt bad later that I hadn’t spoken up. But by the same token, it was the superintendent giving out the words. Who was I, an 11yo girl, to question the superintendent? Maybe in one of John Green’s YA novels, the protagonist would have spoken up. Would you have?

I feel confident that my motivation was not “win-by-any-means.” I think I just didn’t know what to do.

1. What word did you win, or lose, the spelling bee on?

2. What would have happened if I had said hey supe I think she spelled it right?

3. Do you know the wonder that is John Green?

4.

5. What do you think about the national spelling bee being televised and made into the big deal that it is today?

6. Is the spelling bee uniquely American?

What makes you nervous?

How is this such a difficult question to answer?

I don’t think I get nervous very often. I do get anxious, which is along the same lines.

For instance, I was supposed to meet up with my son this morning. He has a legal issue to fix and we were to meet up today so he can get that taken care of.

We have had this planned for a few weeks. I texted to confirm last night and haven’t heard anything.

Because of our history, I wanted to be sure he would be at the rendezvous point before I make the drive.

I wonder if he is ok. I think the feeling is more anxiety than nervous. Either way, my innards are roiling.

Sometimes when this happens, the explanation is perfectly reasonable. Sometimes it means something has gone awry. Because we have been dealing with this for so long, I don’t know if it’s possible to trust that everything is ok.

How do you unwind after a demanding day?

How about I think about how to create days that aren’t so demanding??

When Friend Husb travels, my taskload increases as I take on his parenting and home care jobs.

Many days I am exhausted by day’s end, but that is doubly true when he travels.

The above screenshots are from Greg McKeown’s book “Essentialism.” Never has a book been quite as spot on, clearly written to and about me. That’s me, the non-essentialist. I thinks, does, and gets what he writes here. Note the last line: “feels overwhelmed and exhausted.” That shoe kinda fits.

McKeown practices “extreme planning.” A simple idea, really, it just means being very detailed when planning a day. Dr appt at 10? Put the travel time on the calendar. And add extra time for the travel.

Some people (me) figure if it takes 19 minutes to get somewhere, they (I) will leave 19 minutes before they (I) must arrive. “Should be plenty of time,” I’ll assert. Narrator: “It’s never plenty of time. It’s just barely enough and only works if every light is green and there’s a close parking spot and she actually leaves 19 minutes ahead of time.”

The extreme planner knows that 19 minutes is not realistic under normal conditions. So add an extra 10 minutes and leave 29 minutes ahead of time.

Without thorough preparation for a day, I end up over-scheduling myself, not allowing enough time to get from point A to point B, and thoroughly exhausting myself.

This week Kepler had a track meet at 4 and pickleball at 530. Without my extreme planning, aka being intentional, aka being realistic, I would have plowed forward with that plan. Never mind the time of day (rush hour) or traffic (rush hour-y), or the impossibility of arriving on time, or the stress that would come as I watched the seconds tick by during the meet.

However, because I did plan extremely, I chose to say we would not be at pickleball. I am the coordinator for the program and was worried about missing, but one can only do so much, so I asked for help (crazy idea), and said no to something (super crazy idea).

Without the time pressure monkey on my back, I was able to be present at the meet without worrying about getting to pickleball. And while I was tired Thursday evening, I wasn’t exhausted. I had gleaned what was essential and focused on that.

How do you use social media?

Relationship status: It’s definitely love/hate.

Like “now you see them, now you don’t.” I delete most or all of them regularly, usually in a fit of pique. But then I re-download one or more for a reason.

Such as Twitter.

I thought Twitter was kaput for me. Had been for months. Didn’t miss it a bit. However, Twitter is where Kepler’s Unified Track team/meet photos are posted and this morning I added Twitter back to my phone to see the photos.

My primary strategy on social media is L&L (lurk and learn.) I try to remain as motionless as possible while on Facebook because i’m not trying to read ads all day. On other apps I will risk detection.

A notable pro of social media is that I have heard about some wonderful books and movies that I would have otherwise missed. So they keep me ho-OL-din Ah-ah-on. (to the tune of the Ambrosia song).

Can’t live with em; can’t live without em.