Paperback Pause

[Look! I have a really cheesy cover, and I am cheap, but it’s what’s on the inside that counts, right? Click my obnoxious cover to buy me on Amazon. Yay!

[Also, the title says “for grown-up girls”, but that shouldn’t stop the fellas from checking it out. Would I steer you wrong? Well, not intentionally at least.]

I returned to reality and a Sunday of cooking stuffed bell peppers with a new addition to slide onto my make-shift bookshelf. In her normal fashion, Booger handed down a book to me as an early Birthday present. Its title is The Merit Badge Handbook for Grown-up Girls by Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas. Her name makes my jaw hurt a bit, and I didn’t even attempt saying it out loud. Filled with activities, projects, goal ideas, and new learning/experience opportunities, you could think of this book as a sort of generalized bucket list and guide. My initial appreciative reaction was quickly followed with eagerness to start flipping pages. Upon doing so, something unexpected happened.

The beginning of this year had me sulking in the realization of all the things I have yet to do in/with my life. I have a hard time being patient when on a quest. Nothing was helping, especially not seeing all the cool stuff other people around me were doing. Then, I began writing again and went from sulking to basking in the new-found determination I had to start doing things. New or different or scary or silly or constructive or whatever kind of things, it didn’t matter. No more ruts.

All that intense drive had me buzzing for a while. For a period of time, I was feverishly making plans for a myriad of ideas I wanted to bring to fruition, and I was making them faster than I could even remember how to spell fruition. Then suddenly, the planning ceased for the time being. I suppose I hit a planning plateau. So, for the past few weeks I have been feeling a little less than worth-wild. I  feel boring (not to be confused with being bored).

As my veggies were sauteing and the oven preheated, I took a cooking pause to flip through the newest member of my literary collection. It is easy to forget the interesting, cool, difficult, fun, or life changing things you have experienced, created, accomplished, or enjoyed. As I flipped through the pages, I reminded myself that while I am experiencing a waiting period in my quests, I have already done many memorable and prideful things in the past year.

When initially perusing this book, I surprisingly found myself thinking, “Cool, I have already done that”. I skipped the chapter about learning a new instrument. Been there, done that. I jumped right over the sections on cooking, planning a trip, and running a marathon. I’m on it. And the chapter on writing? Way ahead of you. They were all badges I have already gained or have my plans in place for gaining. It was an unexpected reminder that sometimes I need to step back and look at what I have accomplished and learn to relish in those feats with just as much vigor as I put in to planning future milestones.

The book was, of course, the perfect treat for me at this point in my life. No surprise that my perfect gift-giver best friend dished this one out. Besides the over-due reminder of all the stuff I have already crossed off of my want-to-do list, the book also gave me eighteen additional ideas to tack on to that list. What I also found particularly interesting about this book is that for each “badge” it not only explains feasible steps to earning it but also introduces a “mentor” for each chapter. A professional working in the field pertaining to the particular task for that chapter . In the back index you will find contact information for every single contributing mentor. I plan to take advantage of this.

If you are looking to start trying new things but don’t know exactly where to start, or you have a want-to-do list, but it is merely a rough draft, I am recommending this book. Remember, I have only just skimmed the book, but it looks promising enough. If it fails to deliver, I can assure you that my next post will be featuring my new make-shift door-stopper.

What’s on your want-to-do list? What are some things you have proudly crossed off?

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