Unfinished Business

When I was younger, my brother, Geoff, and I used to play G.I. Joe. Now I can almost hear all of you thinking to yourselves... G.I. Joes were little army men, and their guns and an apparent lack of instructions on exactly how one was supposed to "play" with them. Well, the enterprising young kids that we were, we went about creating a series of bases, usually out of styrofoam packaging from whatever our parents had purchased recently. The bases would all invariably have a grand front gate which served no purpose other than to provide an entryway for the enemy to invade the base. Then the two of us would spend roughly an hour or so lining up all the Joes, making sure that each had their appropriate gear including their packs, guns, helmets, pets, etc. At last, we would have what can only be termed as a draft. We would pick Joes back and forth until all were gone. Then the vehicles were all equipped up and drafted starting with small one-man motorcycles moving up to the larger vehicles. We were never able to obtain a vehicle that compared to the G.I. Joe F-15 Jet that I got for Christmas one year, so it would never participate in these wars, and resigned itself to sitting high on a speaker off to the side watching all equally.





Finally, we would place all our G.I. Joes in our respective bases. I always took care to place my snipers in high locations, my grunts all along the front walls, and the specialist Joes (like the doctor mindreader guy or Zartan the chameleon) would always be located off to one side as reservists or for sneak attacks. We would spend the next hour or two ensuring that our guys were placed perfectly to fend off hordes of enemy Joes.

After hours of base crafting, Joe drafting, and army placement, we would finally be ready to start the battle. I honestly do not remember the rules that we used. I remember that we could move our Joes a predetermined number of inches one at a time, alternating back and forth. It was when the shooting started that the arguments started as well.

Thankfully, we hardly ever got to that point. By the time we had everything placed perfectly, it would be time for dinner or something and we would have to clean up. Seriously. We almost never got to the actual battling. I think that's why I cannot recall the rules that we used, because we never really used them. We never got to finish what we started. Dinner, bath-time, homework, housework, or yardwork. There was almost always something that interrupted our battles before they began and we had to pick it all up only to start again the following week.

I guess that is the story of my life. I start in on something only to be interrupted and have to set it aside for a week, a month, years, or forever.

Boy Scouts - I was unable to finish my Eagle Award because I moved from California to Maryland and had to set it aside.
College - I was unable to attend college right after high-school due to financial issues, and only was able to return to it a few short years ago.
House - I have numerous projects (too many to list) that I need to complete around my home that I continually have to put off.

Basically, I have a life full of projects, events, and opportunities that are unfinished.

I have come to realize that these projects are starting to define who I am as a person and I do not want that. I do not want to be known as a person who can not finish what he starts. To me, that is unacceptable.

I am no longer going to leave projects unfinished. Sure I may set a project aside for a while, but the alternative of leaving something unfinished my life is not an option any longer. I need to be a more reliable person, to be able to look back on my life and say to myself that I finished things, that I was able to complete things.

I no longer want to have unfinished business lingering around.