Learning from my clients

One of the many reasons I love being an organizer is all of the great conversations I get to have with my clients. And although I’m technically the one who’s supposed to be laying down the wisdom, I never leave without having learned something. In one recent case, it was what a “varmint target” is. In another, more-relevant-to-my-needs case, it was this jewel of an observation: “Most people don’t realize that they can have almost everything they want, as long as they aren’t rigid about the order in which they get those things.” We’d been discussing the fact that so many people have a youthful vision of meeting someone special, building a career, settling down, getting a home, having children… but if they find one of those steps hard to achieve, they may let it stop the whole process. What if you don’t meet that perfect person, and you’re in your 30s, and you want to buy a house? What if you have your kid(s) before everything else happens? What if? What if you could acknowledge the good things you’re achieving, and controlling what you can, and letting the other stuff go? I know, it’s hard.

The corollary observation my client made was that people look at a person who seems to have achieved a certain body of accomplishments (for example, being partnered, having a child, a career, a home); and they may make assumptions about the order that all happened in. But you never know, do you? Maybe that’s a new husband. Maybe that kid showed up long ago. So even people who seem to represent the set of accomplishments you desire, may very well have taken a twisting road to that place.

Mercy and patience are critical to getting your home and life organized in a sustainable way. Here’s just one more way to think about getting to the place you want to be.