Before and After

It occurred to me recently how much I LOVE the before and afters of life. It's so motivating to see how things were before and then the after-- sometimes after takes months even years-- like building a home or remodel-- or weightloss-- even pregnancy. However, sometimes the after is only minutes away! As a perfectionist I tend to postpone the "after" of things because I think the steps to get there are long. That's not always the case. Think of cooking or baking-- you start with a clear counter and stove-- then gather your ingredients and within minutes you have created something- hopefully the after is delicious! :) We would not have channels like The Food Network or TLC if it was run by perfectionists afraid to take those steps from before to after. It is so fun to watch a room go from ugly to beautiful or messy to totally organized. The key is doing it in steps- even baby steps.

I decided to use my camera to document the before and after of cleaning my kitchen. It took all of 30 minutes to do this transformation-- it would have taken 15 or less if I had kept up with things to begin with. It reminds me of a bumper sticker-- "Don't Postpone Joy". I tend to do that. Do you postpone joy?

The next time you are tempted to just let something go-- DON'T. Imagine the after and the joy you will feel when accomplishing it and get started!