I can’t help it. It isn’t that I really want to stop. In fact, I rather enjoy doing it. But it does take time although some people say it does save time.
Perhaps I do it because I’m actually scatterbrained, and doing this keeps me on task. All right. I admit it. I make lists. I make lists of almost everything.
Oh, you do it as well, huh? How does it make you feel? Sometimes making a list frees me up, making me feel rather ecstatic. But I do have to admit that I worry that others might see this avocation of mind as taking too much time, even wasting precious time. But then, I go back and forth about it. Making lists may save time because I don’t have to go hunting for something. It’s right there in my list.
There is something to be said about lists serving as part of one’s overall attempt to be organized in other ways. Is a list maker a person who keeps a well-arranged file drawer. If you will take a look at my desk right now you will most certainly find numerous carefully organized areas of receipts. Most of these receipts are meant to help me relate to stewardship spending including such as the tithe to Dianne’s and my church and other ministries.
One drawer contains an envelope for every one of the talks and messages I have given since I began doing so, total in number just under eight-hundred. Also in the file cabinets is a portion listing (there’s the list again) birthdays, anniversaries and other significant dates we need to remember by way of a greeting card of some sort that is to be sent to the appropriate person.
Then there are files covering the histories of our meaningful relationships with friends across the years.
I must not overlook the medical history I try to keep up to date in a file.
It’s all about organization and I can see that it takes a great deal of extra effort. And I realize that many readers will see it as a lot of wasted time as well. But I have to admit that I keep a file of all of the significant correspondence between friends and relatives I have received and copies of much of the correspondence I send.
Photographs. Oh yes, all of our pictures must be categorized and that can take making lists. Oh where, oh where does it ever end?
Of course, there are files on many other subjects on my lists. There are lists about matters to be cared for, automobiles, housing, savings, and, let me look over my lists. I don’t want to miss anything. There are Dianna’s lists. Nope, I’m not going there. Now, where is that list? I’m sure it is with all the others—in The Garden of Eads. Where IS that list?
