Take the Leap Anyway!

I must admit, I completely forgot about my post over the weekend. Even yesterday, it slipped my mind beyond a quick wisp while Gwen and I were having our weekly Skype meeting. It’s a shame, because I had a great idea weeks ago for the name. Oh well. Take the leap today, in case the fun of Leap Day yesterday passed you by.

I have a fairly good reason for my forgetting. I’m currently at my mom’s house in Arizona, helping her through her recovery from chemotherapy for breast cancer. The weekend and yesterday were taken up by two tasks: helping her design a food plan that will help her regain some of her lost weight and strength, and finishing up the sample for my newest knitting design.

Both tasks have been successful: my mom spent the last 24 hours eating without side effects, and my skirt is DONE! The pattern is now in process, and I’m very, very pleased with the result.  It fits well, is fun to wear, and is the realization of an idea I had years and years ago. I procrastinated creating it, because I don’t consider writing patterns my strongest skill,  but once I finally started on it, the ideas came quickly, the work was actually fun, and my confidence soared. Because I started this before my birthday, I am counting this toward my 50 x 50 challenge. This is finished object number ten. Yes, I have a ways to go in only 6 months, but I’m glad to have this big one out of the way!

Is there a project or idea that seems too big, or too difficult? I have so many of those, but one advantage of gaining in years and wisdom is that I’m finally understanding a few things. One of those is that if you wait until conditions are perfect, you’ll never start. Instead, take the leap! Invent something. Or unvent something. More importantly, just do anything, even if it is small.  Read through the pattern. Cast on for the swatch. Wind the yarn into center-pull balls. Don’t think about doing the whole thing, just make a new rule for yourself, such as “Every day I will spend 5 minutes on this project.”

With your fitness, you can actually change your life by committing to 1 pushup a day. Getting off the couch is about 94% of the battle. It’s the same with knitting. One row, one task, one action per day will get you started, and small successes can then keep you moving. I hope you’ll take some inspiration from my experience and go after the thing you’re dreaming of now. It will turn out well in the end.