Weeding Lessons

Who would have thought weeding would offer a life lesson? Not me.

But take a look at that humble weeder, would ya? You know how the tip usually features a sharp fork? This one did, too, on Friday morning. And this is what it looked like by Friday evening. Sheesh.

Wearing the weeder down to the nubbin is what happens over the course of a full day spent weeding cracks in an asphalt driveway. The lesson that became apparent upon digging the final weed out of the final crack (albeit the following day after another hour or two of weeding work) is this: I, for one, can accomplish an amazing amount of work when I remain focused on what is right in front of me. Surveying the entire 2,400 square feet of neglected drive, riddled with, I daresay, miles of cracks in need of weeding is daunting, demoralizing, and enervating. Crouching down with weeder in hand, working on a single crack, following where it leads in the web of chasms, one weed, one crack at a time is not only completely doable, it generates an energy and applied focus that combine to get the entire job done, in little, digestible pieces, while staving off that overwhelming sense of impossibility that the big picture causes.

I suspect I have mentioned something like this before, here on these pages, but it bears repeating. If only because I keep forgetting. Break big jobs into manageable chunks and, with applied focus (ah, that's the key for me), even the most seemingly insurmountable task can be tackled.