INTRO MUSIC
I’m Nora McInerny, and it’s going to be okay.
I come from a long line of women who get things done. They get them done well. They get them done right. They get them done quickly, and with a smile on their face. When they’re done getting these things done, they will get other things done, whether or not they’ve been asked to. If you need something done, ask any woman I know: she’s already done it.
One of these women is my mother in law, who spent most of her career as a flight attendant. This is a topic for another time, but being a flight attendant is truly being an unsung hero. You are responsible for the safety of passengers. You are also responsible for getting them beverages whether or not they even say please or thank you. This mother in law of mine made a great flight attendant because she is cute as a button, has a great attitude, and truly has the ability to let most human behavior roll right off her back. Those are not qualities that I possess in any way, which is why I’ve never even considered being a flight attendant. In her retirement, she has taken care of her husband, her brother, basically all of us. She has learned pickleball. Hiked. Traveled. Kept taking French classes. She has gone. Gone. Gone.
Done. Done. Done.
After her husband died and the going and doing took on a different pace and a different meaning, she was up North at her friend’s cabin. They were meant to be relaxing, but she heard two dogs barking at the cabin next door, two kids screaming for help, and she leapt to her feet, ran to help…and the kids and dogs ended up okay but Mae Mae as we call her was not okay. She’d broken her ankle. Badly. Not that there’s a great way to break her ankle but this one was really bad. It meant surgeries and scooters and those little walking casts that make it look like you have a LEGO for a limb. It meant slowing down.
And it meant a new motto to get her through this:
No sudden movements.
Physically, she had to slow down. No more leaping to the rescue. No more running around doing everything for everyone. Time to rest. Time to slow down.
And I don’t have any broken ankles as of this recording but I do have the same tendency she has, and that you may also have: to go, to do. To get it done. Fast. Effectively. And move on to the next thing.
So we’ve started saying this to each other, and I’ve started saying it to myself.
No sudden movements.
You don’t need to get it all done today. You might not get it all done tomorrow. You might not get it all done quickly or efficiently or with a smile. You might not have to! There are things that will fall through the cracks and balls that will be dropped and guess what? Many of them bounce and many more of them simply roll under the couch and drive your dog insane with desire!
You don’t have it all figured out, you never will, and you certainly won’t have it all figured out today even if you rush rush rush!
Sometimes the most important thing in the world is what you don’t do. It’s taking your time, and making sure your time takes care of YOU. It’s taking a beat. Taking a seat. Suddenly finding that your writing is rhyming.
The whirlwind always comes back eventually. The to-do list always gets longer. Today, we move carefully through our days and our worlds and our lives.
I’m Nora McInerny. This is it’s going to be okay.
OUTRO MUSIC
CREDITS
