THE VIRTUE OF ORDER
This is taken from Sacred Moments, Daily Meditation on the Virtues by Linda Kavelin Popov. It is a beautiful story about the art of focus.

"I have faced my fear of heights by climbing mountains, feel energized by speaking to large audiences, gladly take financial risks for the sake of a worthy venture and regularly take on my personal dragons. What sets my heart to fibrillating and weakens my knees is adminophobia - the fear of all the little tasks undone that grow like mold, that mock and whine, "You're not enough. You'll never get done."

One morning after returning from a trip, an anxiety attack woke me early.
Bleary-eyed, I got up and went to my prayer corner. "Help!", I said aloud, "I need real help! I just can't face the pile on my desk." I saw in my mind's eye a holy figure in the distance standing on a beach where I often saw him. He was smiling at me and beckoning. As I approached him, I noticed something colorful in his right hand, glinting in the sunlight. It was a set of pick-up-sticks, a game I played as a child. He lifted his head and raised his eyebrows, directing me to watch closely. He tossed the sticks onto the sand where they landed in a jumbled pile. He put his thumb and forefinger together and shook them with a wry expression which said "Watch this!" He bentslightly from the waist and, without disturbing the rest of the pile, carefully and effortlessly picked up one red stick. He held it up with a triumphant smile and looked deep into my eyes. I quickly journaled the meditation, writing "One thing at a time." When I walked into the office, there was the expected pile left by my secretary. As my computer hummed to life, I picked up one thing from the teetering pile with thumb and forefinger. I handled it with calm,focused concentration. By noon, my out-basket was brimming and my desk was mercifully clear. _________________________