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Brick by Brick

I'd like to take a moment to share a touching story that is perfectly fitting for time management.

Bill was an extremely busy person. He worked in politics, in a career that required long hours and a good deal of traveling.

During one of his quick stops home, merely to change laundry, he and his young daughter, Mollie, were coming back from the grocery store. Mollie suddenly asked him, Dad, what street is your house on?'

Bill did live at home, however, he was there so infrequently that Mollie thought he lived somewhere else.

One summer evening, also during another of Bill's quick stops at home, he watched his daughter attempt to make a 'secret hide-out' with thin slate tiles that kept on falling. When she finally burst into tears, Bill told her that she needed about 60 bricks to make it work.

So, they drove to the hardware store together and found the bricks. Bill began loading the rough, heavy bricks, a few at a time, onto a cart.

All of a sudden, Mollie begged, 'Oh, please let me do that, Dad. Please!'

Bill figured that if he let her, they would be there forever. She would have to use two hands just to pick one of them up.

Impatiently, Bill said, 'But sweetie, they're very heavy.'

But, Mollie insisted, as she picked one up with both hands, 'Please, Dad, I really want to.' And one by one, Mollie walked back to the pile of bricks, took quite some time to make her selection, and finally lugged it over to the cart.

Bill thought to himself, 'This is going to take all night.'

But then, he realized that she wanted it to take all night.

It was rare for the two of them to spend time together. She didn't want this to be a quick fix-it job from dad. She wanted it to be a special moment -- and she wanted the moment to last as long as possible.

Bill finally realized that they were buying bricks to make a wall, but in reality, they were actually dismantling a wall, brick by brick -- the wall that divided him from his daughter.

Getting organized is not really about clutter control, or even about being productive. The truth is, getting organized is about freeing you. It's about knocking down the barriers and that are holding you back from doing the things you love, and from spending time with the people you care about. It's about giving you the balance you need to enjoy life.

I believe all of us could learn a lot about life from Mollie, and how she helped her father realize how truly important that balance of time is -- brick by brick.

by Maria Gracia - Get Organized Now! http://www.getorganizednow.com FREE Get Organized Now! Idea-Pak and E-zine, filled with tips and ideas to help you organize your home, your office and your life, at the Get Organized Now! Web site.

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