It took a month to get my home office in shape and doing it energized me every step of the way. I'm still refining but I no longer have to close its door to hide the mess.

I am so proud of myself for finally facing what seemed like an impossible task. It turned out to be a rather simple task and I wonder now what seemed so daunting to me.

Like life itself, fitness of any kind is a process. We just have to start - almost anywhere.

Taking that first step in any project feels wonderful and getting a grip on almost any facet of life is the first step in getting hold of the whole. Once I saw progress in organizing my home office, I took an hour and straightened out a closet. Then I unpacked a few boxes in the garage. It is heady stuff.

What this progress reaffirms to me is simple. I can do anything in small, consistent steps and success in one thing really does lead to another.

Never one to do regular exercise, health needs and my doctor's encouragement made me begin that physical journey six years ago at an area gym. Later, I learned that the staff didn't think I'd last after watching me on that first day. I was a disaster. But they encouraged me until I surprised them and me.

Like life itself, fitness of any kind is a process.
We just have to start - almost anywhere.

I don't do enough, but I exercise most days, lifting weights, walking on a ski machine, and more. I am so proud of the muscles I never knew I had. And I'm aware that a neurological condition would probably have me in a chair by now if I hadn't started to exercise.

Few of us take to the office the face we see in the mirror first thing in the morning. Oh what a difference a little makeup and a hairdo can make. It's the same with most routines - exercising, filing paperwork, grooming. A little effort goes a long way.

We can take on anything one little step at a time. It's not the end result that provides all the joy. Day in and day out we can take enormous satisfaction in progress.

Jean Loxley-Barnard has been a writer all her life and studied both sociology and psychology at George Washington University where she earned a B.A. Her company, The Shopper, Inc., encompasses all the Loxley-Barnard family publications - The Shopper Magazines and Doctor to Doctor Magazine. She has been in the advertising, consulting and publishing business for 39 years.