Here is an anecdote told by author, Anne Lamott:
‘Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he’d had three months to write, which was due the next day… He was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, “Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird”.’
When I become overwhelmed with all the things I have to do, or want to do, I recall this sweet story. It doesn’t change the number of tasks in front of me, but I find it calming and encouraging. Around our house now when any one of us starts sinking beneath the load, we advise each other “Just take it bird by bird.” Sound advice.
