Collect All the Pieces, but Then Decide which Piece to Play

Tonight, you are draped over the couch you inherited from a group house long ago, and you have spent the last hour and a half looking at TV clips and movie trailers and new content added to Netflix you will never watch, and scanning images on Pinterest for recipes you will never cook and DIY crafts you will never make. You’ve been looking sleepily for something to watch or do. Looking looking looking.

And not just tonight, when a 12-hour work day has made you as animated as a paper doll.

Basically, Natasha, you would always rather search, strategize, contemplate, and deliberate than take action. It’s important for you to take action. Otherwise you will always be preparing for life but miss out on the living.

There is nothing wrong with your need to gather all the pertinent information before making a decision. And you have made many an informed decision as a result. Let’s think of a few.

1. Printing the perfect photos for the Emmick Plantation House Kolar family gallery (Evan in a fur coat, Eames’ hipster posture, the boys in Prague laughing into pilsners, Tasha with a shotgun in gingham, etc.)
2. Finding Biola University in the Princeton Review all those years ago
3. Settling on an MA in International Education instead of a teaching credential or international development degree
4. Going to work for Hanover Research, the perfect place to grow personally and professionally
5. Writing a bunch of high quality research briefs with high quality sources
6. Wading through churches and finding a home at St. Brendan’s in the City (in DC) and then MiddleTree (in STL)
7. Choosing a great apartment in St. Louis, sight unseen
8. Marrying Zack Thompson, a toad among tadpoles
9. Designing an awesome honeymoon itinerary
10. Hunting and gathering many lifelong friends who make your world merry and sparkly

Ok, that’s 10. Ten’s usually a good number for stopping. And stopping is the goal here.

So, I’m telling you to (yeah do your thing, BUT!) pay attention for when it’s time to stop considering all your options, and grab one off the shelf. Rip open the package and suck it down right in the aisle of the supermarket. Don’t waste another minute. That’s how you got your top ten list. Now let’s stretch it to 100.