ONE THING. JUST ONE THING
If you saw the film, City Slickers, the “One Thing. Just One Thing” title used here may bring to mind the scene in which Curly, the Jack Palance character, says to Mitch, played by Billy Crystal, “Do you know what the secret of life is?”
“No, what is it?” asks Mitch.
Curly answers by holding up one finger, and says, “One thing. Just one thing.”
He doesn’t explain further. We get to determine for ourselves what he means.
On a shared car service transport from Sedona, Arizona to the Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, I met a woman somewhat like Curly. Her name was Vi. During the two-hour drive we shared a lot of stories. Vi told me that, as a result of a mental, physical, and emotional breakdown, she learned – not the secret of life, but - a secret of life, actually a secret of living well.
Unlike the reticent Curly, Vi gave me all the details. She owned several successful businesses which she had started herself. As they grew, she still did a little bit of everything for each business.
As a result, every day she had many things on her TO DO list. Never did she complete all the tasks on the day they were listed. So, some things, many things, always got carried over to the next day. Instead of recognizing what she accomplished each day, Vi felt stressed over all that got “carried over.” Eventually she felt overwhelmed, not in control, and her health suffered on all levels.
As we descended from high desert to low desert, Vi explained that she discovered a tool that helped her to feel happier, healthier, more productive - stronger in every way.
Her tool is a 17 x 12 desk calendar, the kind that nearly covers the top of a common-sized desk, with large squares of empty space for each day.
Vi places “Just One Thing” - whatever is the highest priority action - in each space. Although she does more tasks than that each day, this simple tool helps her to carefully discern the top priority, to give that action quality attention, and to value that accomplishment. She credits her “Just One Thing” approach with giving her a sense of spaciousness in each day and seemingly more time each day.
“It’s probably, also, the result of the meditation I now do,” she said, adding. “But I’ve got a lot less stress and a lot more strength these days. More peace and joy too.”
The rest of the way, from Anthem to the airport, we talked about other things. But as Vi was getting out of the car at curbside check-in for her airline, after we wished each other well, she said, “Remember. Just one thing. Try it.”
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