Girl Journal, March 15, 2014

Not right up there with Buddah's Enlightenment, or anything like that, just a little notch in my Liviing a More Sensible Life belt.

I decided to walk away--from my Atlas of World History.

I bought it on our New Year's Day shopping trip, a couple of years ago. I meant to read a little bit of it every day. We'll call it a "refresher course," even though I've forgotten so much that it would be more properly called an "introductory course." I tried that year, and lasted, if my marginal notes can be trusted, for about a month.

This year, I started again. I hate the book. I hate it because once it gets past the very beginnings, it focuses on one continent at a time. I was looking for a more coordinated approach, a sort of "World News Tonight" that would give me a picture of all of the continents at a given period. I forged ahead. I got as far as China, and last night, I just couldn't take it anymore.

I vented on the page. I read the first paragraph. I closed the book. I went to Amazon.

My new book should be here in a week or so. Meantime, I have the Kindle version of a historical timeline that is mostly bullet points. (Turns out the flute, which I am trying to learn, was one of the earliest instruments, and pottery, one of the earliest crafts.) I'm getting back to the basics, so to speak.

I'm not sure I have ever before consiously given up on a book. (Well, "given up" may be too strong a phrase. I did put it back on the shelf.) Once I start, I finish, as though there will be some sort of prize at the end (sometimes there is) or some sort of penalty for not. (I guess I'll find out.)

I felt strong, as though I had somehow found the courage to do what I knew was sensible, to make a choice that was right for me.

Finishing what you start --- not always --- the best thing. I know that. I just don't typically live it.

Baby steps.