Fall in Love With the Process

 The other day I dropped off about twenty fully colored coloring books at my local recycling center. It seemed kind of a shame throwing them away, but they had sat on a shelf for the last several years taking up valuable space. 

I really wasn’t sure what else to do with them. Each picture was not anything spectacular and didn’t seem frame worthy. As I pulled away from the center I realized how much fun I had coloring them. It was the process, not the end result that was the most important. 

As a child coloring was always one of my favorite things to do. I remember outlining each subject first, and then lightly filling them in with my crayons. I was always on board anytime a neighborhood friend suggested a coloring contest. I was a good at coloring, and found great pleasure in doing so. 

Perhaps some of this might have been due to not being a natural at drawing. I have since learned that drawing is a skill, and if I had developed it I would have been better at drawing, and probably would have felt more confident doing so. 

However, what I have learned about my personality is that when it’s hard to do, and not much fun I really don’t have the desire to continue. This was true then and true today. I’ll keep you updated on my Wooble’s project at a later date. 

Yesterday I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, House of Joy featuring Dr. Edie Wadsworth. Dr. Eddie is a trained medical doctor who has left the profession to focus on personal growth coaching for women over forty. 

She and her twenty something daughter were discussing the idea of falling in love with the process vs overemphasizing the end result. Rather than battle with the number on the scale every morning fall in love with trying a new healthy meal each week to add to your repertoire. Fall in love with listening to podcasts while you take your daily walk. Fall in love with the relaxing motion of coloring as you watch your favorite show at night. 

We are definitely a results oriented society, and there really isn’t anything wrong with that. Think of all the amazing inventions over the years. However, if you judge what you do only by the result you may find yourself disappointed.

One bit of advice I’ve clung to since retirement are the words of Happiness Project author, Gretchen Rubin. “You can choose what you do, but you can’t choose what you like to do.” Find the things you like to do, and fall in love with the process of doing so.