I love instant gratification

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Courtesy of clker

Instant gratification. It goes nicely with lack of patience. (I’m an expert at lack of patience). Nothing beats looking good with little effort. There aren’t a lot of opportunities for that but I had a life lesson recently.

Two months ago I hurt my back lifting. It was a bad back sprain and took a few weeks and ultrasound treatments to recover. The doc said to be careful as it will be susceptible to re-injury for a while.

I was good until we got a truck load of mulch to put on our landscape and flower beds. At the same time as the delivery we got a high pressure system that put the temperatures in the 90s with matching humidity. I wasn’t going to touch it.

The beloved husband is not good at looking at an undone project. He didn’t touch it the first day but I knew if the weather wouldn’t cooperate soon, he’d dive in any way. He went for it on the second day.

I announced loudly and vehemently that I did not intend to work in that pea soup! Then he asked me to do one small part. What could I say? I did that one part. It looked so good, I did another. Two hours later my back said it had enough. It wanted painkillers and ice. I obliged.

There was a discussion (between my back and myself) about whether a margarita would be a better painkiller but we decided to pace ourselves and go with big pharma first. This could also get us out of making dinner. (Always look for silver linings!)

The beloved husband said, “Why did you keep working?” The truth is that the finished mulch made the area look so good I got swept up. I love doing something that looks beautiful right away. How many things are like that? Not many!

I’m going to have a few days of an “achy breaky back” but I’ll medicate it with a book and a Frappuccino! And a little later…a margarita!

What about you? Do you allow something to derail your good sense?

64 thoughts on “I love instant gratification”

  1. I lose my good sense when I’m overloaded with work. With no time to rest and decompress, I go for the sweets to rev up on that sugar-high to keep me going like the energizer bunny. It is counterproductive and not logical, but Mr. Spock leaves my head, and Bridgett Jones takes over every time.

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  2. I don’t like looking at something that I have to do. Like you, I could never have that mulch sitting there for a week. If I buy paint for a room I can’t let it sit there for weeks. Makes me crazy. The term ” there’s no rush” doesn’t apply to me..:)

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  4. I can’t stand a mulch pile lurking outside the window either….so this year (starting early in spring before the real heat hits) we simply bought mulch in bags and piled them like legos where we couldn’t see them. After those were gone, we bought more. Costs more, but more manageable. Each summer seems like we do less mulching and more fluffy plants that cover up un-mulched spots…we shall not discuss weeds …..
    So nice to sit inside when it’s all done. Gin and tonic works well in spring/summer

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  5. I personally think that patience is overrated! And I often hear one of the bipeds say that they’ve been patient long enough.

    The bipeds have been spreading what they call ‘manure’ on a patch of garden where they’ve removed some dead trees and shrubs. I don’t like to tell them, but when I put my nose in this stuff it turned out to be rotting poop!

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  6. My house is happy and peaceful, and because I like to keep it that way, I often avoid confrontation, even when confrontation should be made. For example, shoes. Right beside the back door is a rolling set of stackable bins. Every family member has a bin with his/her name on it. Why then are there six pairs of shoes in front of the fridge? I trip over those shoes at least once a day, but instead of yelling “You’re all adults, put away your freaking shoes!” I continue to trip, then pick them up myself. It’s a daily ritual. But putting off the confrontation about shower goop finally got me in trouble. I don’t know what that slimy junk is that someone is using in the shower, but it’s like stepping on a layer of gelatin over wet ice. I should have used common sense and demanded that they stop using it or clean up after themselves, but I kept my mouth shut. I paid for it with a fall and a sprained foot. (on the leg that doesn’t have the bad knee.) Mama needs to yell more. Instead I bought a spiny, plastic shower mat for more traction. I can’t help myself. I like it quiet.

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  7. First off, is there anything as beautiful as a bed with fresh black mulch? The contrast of the dark mulch with the flowers and greenery… and the aroma… sigh. And, yes, I am always letting something derail my good sense. I will save you the story of the catkins on the porch roof and the ladder. Good Morning, Kate!

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  8. I do know this scenario! I don’t have the back problem, but I’ve very nearly succumbed to heatstroke! I tell myself I need to pace my garden activity when we’re in a heatwave, as we are now, but once I get started I don’t seem to have the common sense to stop until I get sick. I do this often enough that I should know better. But, like you, I like the way things look. A couple of good cold beers (after gallons of water) is a good reward! You take care of yourself! 🙂

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  9. I’m a sucker for any work that has immediate and obvious progress. And Mulching is one of those things. I even like doing paperwork if I can see a stack of “done” things. I just LOVE seeing the progress through a clear line of things that have already been done.

    I actually built a little secret program for myself at work so I can look at how much I did today. For no other reason than I like to see I did these things.

    I have a really hard time with projects that take weeks or months to finish. Because not having that sense of accomplishment makes me lose motivation. So I have to build little things like my secret “you did this” report.

    Enjoy the meds and the book. 🙂

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  12. Can’t help you here. Instant . . . anything, really, is not my thing. I am more of a delayed (read: “procrastinated”) gratification girl. But in the choice between Margarita and Big Pharma, there is a clear answer. If a Margarita will do the trick – that should always be your first choice.

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  14. I am glad to read so many others who ignore their pain and keep on going. Somehow I am finding that worked much better when I was younger than it does now!

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  16. Take it easy the next couple days! Do you think if I drink a margarita as well that it would help you to! 🙂
    I would love to say that my impulses never override my common sense, BUT….. Yeah, so far from the truth.
    Who do you think Dewey is patterned after, LOL!

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  19. I just did the same thing yesterday! Our backyard is overgrown with weeds and a blackberry vine that keeps weaving its way farther and farther across the yard. it was getting so that I was being attacked by the vine when I went down the back porch stairs to the garage so I decided I was going to do something about it. Hubby has a bad back so he can’t. After filling up our huge garbage bin I started filling large garbage bags. 4 bags later I finally stopped but had only done about a 5th of the backyard! Today I am SO sore and not just my backs but also my arms and legs from pulling and squatting. Not to mention the scrapes from the blackberry thorns. Thought I would have lost at least 5 pounds but actually gained one instead! I think after a few days of ibuprofen I’ll go for a fuzzy navel (I don’t like margaritas).

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    • Fuzzy navels are good and effective! This is exactly what I’m talking about. I go out to read a book but there is that one weed (only takes a minute to pull) that turns into a garbage can full of weeding stuff!

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    • They take a long time to heal or at least mine does or maybe it’s my age. I like being active so being inactive isn’t something I enjoy. We think it’s just a muscle injury rather than a disk thing. That’s good.

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  25. Yup. Add a dash of objective-oriented personality and sprinkle of OCD, and I’m incapable of starting a project and not finishing it. My husband’s like, “You’ve been planting/weeding/ mulching all morning. Come have lunch.” And I’ll be grunting, “No. Not. Until. I. Finish.”

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  26. Mulch makes any and every garden look lovely. I understand why you kept going, but I don’t understand how only one margarita is going to help you. Think big, my dear. Remember the saying: 1 is not enough, 2 is too many, but 3 is just right! 🙂

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