I like beginnings - the beginning of the day, the week, a season, a new project. For me, beginnings represent potential. I’m an optimist, I know. Instead of seeing the long list of things on my to-do list first thing in the morning, I see an opportunity to accomplish something. The downside of my nature is that my enthusiasm can fizzle out quickly. It’s not that I want to give up when a task becomes difficult, it’s more that I crave the excitement of something new. This is why it took me until I was forty to write my first book. My head was full of stories, but I didn’t have the staying power to see one through to the end.

Now that I am a little bit older, I’ve had many opportunities to stand on the other side of an accomplishment that required my sustained effort. Knowing I’ve become truly competent at something because I’ve put in the work and time holds its own kind of satisfaction. Digging in and immersing myself in a project, through the sticky, murky middle, has great value, and only by sticking with it can I appreciate both the process and the result.

Completely unrelated to today’s musing, our kitten is so adorable I can’t stop posting pictures of her. What’s better than a sleeping, purring ball of fluff?