February 19, 2014

Today we celebrate:

National Chocolate Mint Day – Chocolate and mint, my favorite combination of flavors. I'll have to find some Andes Candies or Peppermint Patties or Junior Mints to have today.

Iwo Jima Day – Begun on this day in 1945, the fighting at Iwo Jima lasted more than a month with very heavy casualties for the U.S. and for the Japanese because surrender for either side was not an option or even a vague possibility for consideration. Thousands of men died that day and in the month following. This invasion was the first time America attacked Japanese home territory and the Japanese really had no chance against the superior forces (in terms of numbers of soldiers, firepower, and air power) that the American's brought to the island. But despite that, the battle lasted for five weeks because the Japanese were well entrenched in caves and tunnels and chock full of pure stubbornness.

Single Tasking Day – This is a day to focus on one thing at a time. I have trouble with this, I find my brain going in all different directions jumping from task to task and my body follows. While I make progress on many different things, it is difficult to force myself to complete something. Which is why I only wash half the dishes, put the laundry in the washing machine but not the dryer, vacuum one room and not the others....etc. So, today, every time you find yourself drifting away from what you are trying to focus on, bring yourself back and finish it before you start something else. Speaking of laundry....

To celebrate today, focus on the task of getting a book about Iwo Jima and reading it to your kids before you focus on eating chocolate mints.