Attention to Detail

Attention to Detail:

I get up in the morning and I pray in bed, because it feels like a lot of work to get out of bed and into a comtemplative position.  This makes me feel guilty,because God is definitely worth assuming a position of reverence.  Not just that but God is worth soaring Cathedrals and intricate Art and complicated, vibrating music.  Worship deserves attention to detail.  I tell myself that God is unconditional love, and although he/she would really appreciate an intricate, precise, planned out act of worship, that he also knows exuberant, slaphappy me inside and out.  I imagine God clucking his/her tongue and smiling, and at the same time knowing that I will not reach the level of Oneness and Awareness that I aspire to without attention to detail.

When I get dressed, I pull out the adorable dress that needs ironing and many days I'll hang it back up because I'd rather go for a run, blog, or think about the world and people I know or I've just met than iron.  I pull my shoes out to put them on.  They look dusty. It'll take too long to shine them,so I put them on, wipe them quickly with a damp rag, and rush headlong into the world, eager to eat, eager to meet and greet, eager to see what's new and different, eager to love, eager to see and be seen.  I want to gobble up life, even though it would be so much better to slow down and chew each delicious morsel as it's presented to me. 

I take dance classes at our local Ballroom Dancing Studio.  It's called "Shall We Dance?"  There's a group class and a party afterwards every Friday so all the students can socialize and practice what they've worked on during the week.  At the class, we change partners after we practice each move.  Once there was a young cowboy there and he was sparkling with attention to detail.  His shirt was starched to perfection and his blue jeans had an amazing crease creating perfect symmetry, perpendicular to his shining belt buckle.  His boots were shined, his hair combed with just enough hair pomade.  I drank in the completeness of the picture he made, oh, the attention to detail!  When it was my turn to dance with him, I hesitated to place my hand on his shoulder, I did not want to mess up that beautifully starched red plaid shirt!  He conjured up a  vision of an exquisitely neat stable somewhere, rows of shiny tack displayed just so, hay bales stacked, pristine covered bins of feed in a perfect row, and well-behaved horses, contently munching thier oats out of pristine wooden feed trays.  I did place my hand on his shoulder and we fox-trotted along. All the while I was secretly amused and distracted by how stiffly starched his shirt really was and wondering just how long he stood at the ironing board to achieve that amazing tribute to neatness.  The next day at work I described with awe that amazing starched shirt and my co-worker said that most of those cowboys take their shirts and jeans to a laundry to be starched into submission.  Oh.

Each time I meet someone like that:
 a University professor with an exquisite ascot and matching hanky, usually burgandy or navy, mirror-glossy shoes, and snowy white hair gleaming over shiny pink skin,
or a rapper, his baggy pants crisp-clean, his plaid shirt starched and ironed, the white t-shirt underneath glowing with newness, the expensive hi-tops pristine, his hair and beard trimmed with geometric precision, his dark skin glowingly oiled,
or an elegant woman, perfect coif, teased and heat-pressed into artful shape, make-up applied in shimmery detail, killer designer shoes to sigh over in amazement, and exquisitely fitted skirt, perfectly arranged shirt, sparkly waterfalls of jewelry to top it all off.......

I love it!  I love you, you people with your attention to detail!  You are walking works of art.  You are the people who work for perfection.  You have sent us to the moon.  You have created works that take years and years of precision to make.  Gargantuan Cathedrals!  Tiny Computers!  Monumental Sculptures!  Democratic Constitutions!  Human Rights Advancements!  Mind-blowing Novels!  Sweet Soul-saving Music!

Oooh, I'm inspired.  I think I'll go shine my shoes, or iron. sigh.

Simpleology.com

I've been a member of Simpleology.com for sometime now and started over several times because I haven't made it all the way through the program.  This time I'm on day 9, and I'm staying with it!

The lesson for day 9 says in one part, "Did you know that there is really no such thing as 'procrastination' or 'laziness'?  These two words presuppose 'inaction'on the part of a person, but such a state does not exist.  Again, you are always doing something.  'Procrastination; and 'laziness'are really just ineffective actions masquerading as inaction."

This really hit me.  I listened to it four times.  I always believe that I have a big problem with procrastination, but maybe it's more of a decision problem.  Simpleology asks:  "Will you choose to take action that brings you closer to or further away from, your desired Target?"   "Will you make decisions that Strengthen your Power or Weaken your Power?"

I've made a lot of Weakening decsions, and some Strengthening decsions.  I am already beginning to use these questions in the daily choices I am making, and even if I do choose the weakening choice over the strengthening one, I am clearly weighing my options before doing so.  I know that my decision is a concious one.  That really does make a world of difference.

Simpleology.com is a free website and the first module is absolutely free.  Try it today and let me know what you think!