For Want of a Nail ...

I've been dealing with an issue for two weeks now (to resolve an ongoing problem over the last year or two), and this quotation springs to mind often during this final resolution. Since this proverb is just so apt, I have to share it with y'all. You will probably recognize it. Regardless here it is:

For the want of a nail the shoe was lost,

For the want of a shoe the horse was lost,

For the want of a horse the rider was lost,

For the want of a rider the battle was lost,

For the want of a battle the kingdom was lost,

And all for the want of a horseshoe-nail.

―Benjamin Franklin

So all of us could benefit from this. The next time you catch yourself saying, "I don't have time," or "I'm busy," stop and think about it. Do you really not have time to handle this one issue? Imagine what you may have to deal with if you don't do this thing now. Do you really not have time today for the fifteen-minute-or-less task that may save you from fifteen or more disruptive days of chaos afterward? All just to fix that previous failure to address something (if it can even be repaired now) or to be forced to totally regroup in another direction later?

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What lies behind you and what lies in front of you pales in comparison to what lies inside of you. Ralph Waldo Emerson
When you give someone a book, you don’t give him just paper, ink, and glue.  You give him the possibility of a whole new life. Christopher Morley
The best inheritance you can leave your kids is an example of how to live a full and meaningful life. Dan Zadra

Take Action

Two daily newsletters that I get have merged to become this post.  The gist of both is this:

Take action.

The first one I received from Mary Morrissey.  She speaks of going twenty-one days without complaining.  To take corrective action as you see fit instead.  Here's the link for this one:  http://marymorrisseyblog.com/mary-morrissey/complaint-free-by-mary-morrissey/,

The second one I received from the Nightingale-Conant people.  The article was entitled "Communicate Effectively — Keep It Simple; Make It Clear" and written by Zig Ziglar.  Here's the link to it: http://www.nightingale.com/Newsletters/513.aspx?promo=INLA513N#continue.

I'm pulling out one complete paragraph from within the above-referenced Zig Ziglar article on communication, which follows.

Sometimes we communicate without saying even one word.  When Benjamin Franklin lived in Philadelphia, he recognized the need for street lights, but things were different in those days, and city governments did not have budgets to light streets.  Franklin took action and erected a beautiful post in front of his home with a lantern on top.  At dusk he lit the lantern but said nothing to anyone about it.  After three or four nights, a neighbor followed suit, then another.  Soon the whole street was lighted, and it spread across town.  Franklin’s example sent a simple but effective message and demonstrated again that example is the best teacher.

I love that excerpt.  It shows the power of one.  Of the individual.  Each of us counts, singularly and as part of a group.

Couple these two insights with a quote by Dr. Philip E. Humbert which I found this week at his website http://www.philiphumbert.com:  "Being busy is not the same as being productive" and I just had to share them all.

Make this and every day count.  Take action.