From Start to Finish

I'm the consummate starter.

In fact, I'm fabulous at starting. I can start anything I set my mind to, whether or not I have the skill, strength, or knowledge to do so. If you need something started, I'm your girl. Whether it's reading a book or writing one, I start so many things that I literally can't keep track.

But I finish like crap.

Case in point: My bedside table. On it are:

• 10 books I have started and not finished. This is not all of them, mind you. Just the ones on top of my bedside table.
• A journal I started writing in January 2005. Don't you think that seven years is enough time to fill up a journal? It's really not that big. I mean, not enough to hold Gone with the Wind or Atlas Shrugged or anything.
• A book on organization, organized into weekly tasks, that I bought 14 months ago. I got bogged down by week 1 and did not continue. It is NOT included in the "unfinished book" count above.
• A bottle of hand lotion I've had for three years. Seriously? I can't even finish a bottle of hand lotion in three years?
• A bottle of water I started three days ago. At least. 
• A magazine of logic puzzles I bought a couple of months ago. I love logic puzzles. Buying it was "starting" ... actually doing one is another issue.

And that's just the top. I haven't gotten into the nether regions of the seven drawers containing all sorts of other hidden, started things.

• More journals. Yes, I currently have three going. That may be why the one on top of my bedside table is still unfinished, seven years later. <Light bulb!>
• A box to organize a week's worth of the TWO pills I take regularly — aspirin and Vitamin B12. Can't remember the last time I emptied that box in seven days.  
• Sewing projects. I currently have three going at once. 
• A box of chocolates Seriously? I can't even find a way to finish a box of chocolates in a reasonable amount of time?
• Stuff to go in my kids' baby books. I have three baby books in various stages of progress, but none finished. The youngest is currently six, by the way.
• Several open boxes of notecards.  
• A drawer of various and sundry power cords. Even if I don't think I still own the device, I can't seem to throw the cord away. Because that would be finishing something.  

So why am I titling this blog Finish Well? Because I don't like being a starter. I'd much rather be a finisher. I've found that having so many unfinished projects, books, and tasks is weighing me down. Depressing me. Making me feel like a bit of a failure. So 2012 is my Finish Year — year dedicated to finishing what I've started.

I've made a Finish List to help get me started. Hopefully it won't be a list of the only things I finish this year. Just a tool to get me started and help me track my progress.

Next time I'll publish my Finish List. How's that for accountability? Make it public!

Until then, whatever you've started ... Finish Well.