She said, “You don’t eat an elephant in a day.”

My first thought was, “Who eats elephants?” My second thought was–“She’s right, of course.”

Rhonda, one of my nursing supervisors my first year out of college, saw the overwhelmed look in my eye. She could tell that I was in danger of the corresponding paralysis that a can strike when we stare at a huge task.

“We’ll just take a bite today. And another bite tomorrow. And so on.”

I haven’t done it yet, but I keep telling my kids I’m going to give them each a Mason jar and several rolls of pennies. They will only be allowed to put one penny per day in their jars. Until they are completely full.

Persistent daily effort pays off big time. But the enormity of the job so often pushes us into procrastination, deflection into other tasks, or worse–doing nothing.

The sad thing is, the penny has to go somewhere–into some other jar that in our heart of hearts we know we don’t truly value.

So, here’s your penny for today. Choose your jar wisely. And if you have to eat an elephant, start with the ear–it’s delicious.