Recently I heard someone say something that has stuck with me.  “Your results are the results of your thoughts.”
I know from my experience that it is my thoughts that help me achieve what I set out to do or bring me undone in a hurry.   I know that not all the thoughts I have, are in my best interests.
I have said it often I like, where I can, to defer decisions while I have a good think about it.  I find that is really helpful for me.  It amazes me how often something is tweeked as a result of waiting.  I know the worst thing I can do is rush in with a response.  So often, although something needs to happen my first response is flawed. It may be by anger. Or wanting what I want only, without consideration for others.
Whatever the case I do know that waiting often liberates and makes me susceptible to good ideas.  Sometimes they are mine and sometimes others.  I do know from experience though that a combination is often better than a single idea.  Often my view is from my perspective only, and the place others are coming from give a more rounded and reasonable approach.
I am not keen on wanting a decision quickly on something I may have have given heaps of thought, but others may be hearing for the first time.  It is the “thought bubble” mentality I want to avoid.  Often ideas are presented that seem good, but examination lead to disqualification or adjustment.
To me the best ideas are considered ideas.  Thinking is a process.  Thinking involves building a case or stance.  Thinking also involves rejecting thoughts inclined to destroy.  It is a pet peeve of mine to implement something that looks good and desirable for everyone only to find it was never thought though, and the result is hurt and destruction and the exclusion of all but a few.
To me thoughts matter.  They can aid and abet and can pull down and destroy.  That is to me why my thoughts need to be filtered.

I am calling it early today.  It is a day of rest.
I have done a few things already that I would normally do before going the church.  I have gotten cloths ready, had a shave.  Ok the shave is necessary as I only do it once a week these days and I missed last week.  I have printed out stuff I needed, am doing a post right now and started with a Bible reading, prayer and contemplation.
Basically I am all good to go.  So while I expect the morning to be full on and good I plan to make the afternoon and evening quiet.
Yesterday we went to Bunnings and got some bench primer and paint.  The person helping us could not have been more helpful.  They made up a substantial sample and sold it to us at a very reasonable price.  We came away felling like we know what needed to be done and had saved ourselves hundreds of dollars by choosing to paint what we have rather than buy a newby (and it would take three weeks to make).
In the afternoon we did some volunteering.  It definitely was not as hot as the day before but it was still hot.  Still we did what needed to be done and made progress in what else we wanted to do.
I feel good about making today a rest day.  We know that tomorrow we will be into it again but recuperating is important at all times.  But it seems especially important these days.  We tend to be “up and atom” when we have a mind to work and are into it and at other times we are more sloth like.  We enjoy both..
The week ahead is filling fast.  Merril sees her mum later in the week.  We have a market and have ordered some dividers we need this week.  Also a cabinet is being delivered which we will put together and put in place.  We also have a volunteering session at Bunnings next Saturday.
That is the appointments.  We have other things we want to get done as well.
But that is for another day.  Today I am going to be the best rester I can be.  

The last couple of days I have written all about the progress of our granny flat.  That will continue today but yesterday I saw something as never before.  That is “for a dream to become reality I must prepare.”
The builder had set up our joint up but there was still heaps we wanted to have in there to make the place independently habitable.  To that end we had kept some of the cabinets from our old kitchen when they would have been destroyed had we not specified a need for them.  We also asked the builder for a bench that we saw as perfect for our needs and would have gone had we not asked for it.
There was still stuff to be done like putting up cabinets and purchasing other needs.  We ended up doing some things ourselves.  This led me to contacting the electrician and he said he could do stuff at the end of next week.  That was ok as we still had tiles to cut.  We actually got the tiles cut that day.  We also purchased all we needed to put the tiles up.
Yesterday the electrician phoned to say he could do the job today if we wanted.  The thing was we were ready.  Ok Merril put the tiles up but we had all we needed to do it.  The electrician can come today to do his stuff (we also had a message from Bunnings telling us the cupboard we had ordered was on its way, and we picked up a mat we had ordered a week ago as it had arrived.)
What gets me is that we can go ahead, as we have prepared.  It is easy to have a dream and miss it through being unprepared.  Someone may have a dream of being a famous musician.  It is only words without practice and performance.  A band I really like has words in one of their songs that says. “they do karate while we are setting up and checking the sound.”  To be successful it is necessary to do the groundwork.  That is the way a person is spotted by an agent and a whole new world can open up.
The point for me is that no matter how humble my dream may be, I need to prepare to make it happen.  I need to see what I want and act like it is a present reality - working backwards to determine what I need to make it happen.
It is only a granny flat.  But once it is in place and ready for use, who knows what could happen?