Lists

Maybe if I were a talented screenwriter like Nora Ephron I’d have more fascinating lists. Like the ones she made. Her Will Miss List and her Won’t Miss List. Her lists have made the top of my list for this post about lists. Read on and you’ll find out why. . .

Somedays lists litter my house, car, and purse like crumpled peanut bags at the Ballpark.

I love making lists.
A list gets stuff out of my head and into the world where I can quit ‘feeling’ it floating between my synapses, and worrying my neurons about the hows and whens of Getting Things Done.

Today I came across a post on a newly discovered blog.
Dated several years ago, it’s a list made by Nora Ephron that she included in her last book, I Remember Nothing.

You’ll sense the sadness of somebody who knows she’s seriously ill, but the lists are funny and TRUE.

The simple things,
the everyday joys are the things of her Will Miss List.

 

What Makes Your List

What would be on your lists?
What will you miss?
What won’t you miss when this life comes to a close?

As a Christian I’d say I won’t miss any of this life, but that’s not the point of the lists really.
At least not for me.

The Will Miss List is a way to count my blessings. 

To be mindful of the millions of things small and great that bless me. Huge floppy hydrangea blossoms and sweet juicy watermelon slices. My loving husband and a new great-grandchild. The cool of a new summer morning and the satisfaction I feel when I finish a new podcast episode.

The Will Not Miss List is a way to examine the little things that are poking holes in my joy.

What’s on that list that can be changed? How can I take a first step toward that change? I’m not adding things to fuel self-pity or spark blame. Nope! I’m adding them to examine them for potential solutions. How can I cross this thing off my list?

A Useful Exercise

It’s the weekend, so go out on the porch, or patio and make a list or two.

Count up your blessings and thank God for each one. Fill a page and then another!

Tell someone on your list that you love and cherish them. Make a cup of tea and sit in that new chair you bought or take it outside and lounge on a chaise as you reflect on all the goodness that’s been poured into your life.

Then examine the little joy-stealers eating away at the corners of your happiness. 
Can you nip a few in the bud?
What would you have to do to kick that thing to the curb?
Then do it. That snippet of the Serenity Prayer is floating around reminding me I just might need courage to change something. Sure sometimes we need the serenity to accept a thing that can’t be changed, but what if it can? Get your courage on and take action

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_Prayer

From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another.
John 1:16

You can see Nora’s lists here. https://www.listsofnote.com/p/the-concept-of-waffles

The Top of My List

Of the many blessings I’ve experienced in my almost 69 years of life, knowing the true and living God has been the most excellent! And to make it even better, it will never come to an end. When I walk out the door of this life I’ll walk through it into eternal life. A life where I’ll behold God’s glory completely and know Him fully. 

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face;  now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.                                                                                                     1 Corinthians 13:12 NASB

Let’s Hear From You

Share your top lifetime blessing with me over on Instagram @kellyjgrace. Can you cross a joy stealer off your list with a little courage and some action taking? Share that too and inspire the rest of us with your awesome brave self!