All or Nothing
Posted in The Life of the Historian and tagged with Alcohol, Blogness, Food, Me, Self-control on December 10, 2009
I’m an all-or-nothing person. Probably always have been. I don’t like things being halfway, don’t like unresolved issues or projects, and don’t like to commit partway.
I suppose this is the part of me that’s prone to addiction. Once I have something I like, I want to have it again and again. I go to the same restaurants over and over, ordering the same thing, until I find my new favorite thing. This is why I stay away from drinking…why play with fire?
This blog topic was put forth by Rodney Olsen, as he answered the question I tweeted the other night (“Read, blog, or watch TV?”) with “Read a little, watch a little TV, then blog about it. :)”. The idea repulsed me…how do you expect me to plan to split up my night? A night should be devoted to one cause!
I realized that’s probably not a normal response. That’s okay, I know I’m not normal. But seriously, I do tend to devote my time like that. Today will all be for reading, or blogging, or writing, or cleaning, or watching TV. That sort of thing. When I was a student, it was like playing whack-a-mole: I’d work on one class until I was ahead and then turn around and do that for another that I was behind on.
To be fair, this is more the “ideal” for me and not always how it works out. I might decide to devote myself to reading, and then get the urge to watch an episode of House, so I’ll change my mind right there, stopping in mid-sentence. But it’s always like that…a quick, instantaneous decision. One moment I’m heading in one direction, then the next I’m heading in another.
Waiting to make a decision is hard for me. I want to have my mind made up at all times, and usually do. I guess I always want to have things figured out, even if it works out in a different way than I planned. I’ve been working on a more godly, fruit-of-the-Spirit-filled decision making process.
My commitment to blogging is just like that. I just can’t see doing it on and off again. If I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it.
So, how about you? What kind of person you are? How does it manifest itself?
Photo by massdistraction
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December 10th, 2009 at 8:27 am
Wow! I don’t know if my life could handle that much commitment ;-) I’m a here there and everywhere kind of gal. I mean I make plans to get things done, but I don’t devote whole days, evenings, or any large chunks of time to one thing without having a back up plan….unless we’re going somewhere like a museum or on a trip or something. Generally I like to multitask. I like doing a whole bunch of things at one time. I simply get more done that way. I’m learning to be flexible. It’s a process.
December 10th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Well, I think you know how my blogging goes, so enough said. :) I wish I could just DO something… dedicate to one thing, but I have a lot of tasks on my plate and can’t just dedicate an afternoon or whatever to do just one thing. I have to split my things up. A little study, a little cooking, a little reading, a little TV with the hubs. It’s more like, “What’s the priority for today?” I try to put Bible study at the top of the list every day because I’m involved in several different groups and need to keep up, but sometimes cooking takes priority on certain days. Exercise has taken a fall to the bottom of the list recently. And I sure wish I could crochet, but I don’t know how to do that and read novels at the same time.
It’s funny how opposite you are to me. Commitment? What’s that? LOL! I don’t commit and make up my mind very easily at all.
December 10th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
You just described me! Or maybe not…maybe I’m the opposite? I don’t know. I definitely do things ALL THE WAY when I decide to do them, but I also feel sometimes like I have ADD, jumping from thing to thing. Like right now–I came upstairs to get a white marker to finish a scrapbook page (ALL THE WAY finish), but then I saw the computer and now here I am. Okay, now all I can think about is that darn scrapbook page sitting downstairs. Gotta go.
December 10th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Ahhh! This is the worst ever! I CAN’T EVEN FIND THE WHITE PEN!!!!!
December 10th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
omg I’m totally like you. I do the same thing… I became obsessed with the camera and now I’m still obsessed but I’m sure it’ll only be a matter of time til the next obsession finds me.
December 11th, 2009 at 1:16 am
ALL over the place. I don’t commit to anything and usually the day is over and I think “Where did the time go???”
In the evenings I blog while watching TV. I have started… maybe 4?… books recently and haven’t finished any of them. They didn’t grab my attention so I put them aside.
Needless to say, I am a fly by the seat of my pants kind of girl.
December 14th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
What about your novel?
December 14th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Amanda: Larger projects do sometimes fizzle. I never quite got my feet under that one.
December 15th, 2009 at 10:47 am
I hear you. It’s hard! I really respect your ability to committ (sp?) to just one thing at a time though. I don’t have that opportunity or patience–too much on my plate!