Over the course of the day I was reminded of the importance of taking time to plan rather than taking immediate action. There were two very specific moments in which I was rewarded for pausing to think.

For example, I decide to build a loft for Gavin so he has more usable space in his bedroom. I’ve only assembled a loft once and that was in college and was an epic disaster. This time around I’m designing, creating, and assembling the entire project. To get started I looked up several different designs online and started to find both the commonalities and the interesting differences. I took the time to draw the entire thing out, complete with exact measurements. Once my blueprint was complete I then picked up materials.

After work and supper today went out to the garage and got at it. Everything went way more smoothly than expected and I got significantly more done today than planned. Thanks to thinking through all the details in advance I was able to cruise and get into a state of flow while letting my hands do the work. It was awesome!

One other note that had me smiling. There was one flaw in my design, I needed exactly fourteen construction screws that were three inches in length – screws I neglected to buy. I stood there for a moment before lightning struck. When we took down the old tree house there screws that were exactly what I was looking for. I grabbed the bucket and pulled out all the right screws. As luck would have it there were exactly fourteen screws. It felt like Dad was giving me a little nudge, a wink, and smile from up above. Pretty awesome.

Thanks!!!