As an editor, some of my happiest days are the ones when I send a book off to press. I did so on Friday (Leven Thumps and the Wrath of Ezra, in case you were curious), and it felt GREAT. Seeing how far we had come from the original manuscript, how fabulous it looked all typeset and neatly laid out, with the illustrations in place, was a pretty rewarding experience. And even though I know as soon as the book comes out we'll start getting the emails pointing out the mistakes I missed, I feel like there's one little corner of my life where I have "arrived." That book is done--and even more glorious, it's going to STAY done. (Unlike my laundry, which will never be done, let alone stay done. But you've undoubtedly heard my philosophy on that, which is that the only people whose laundry is truly done are the naked and the dead.)

Anyway, it got me thinking about the whole process of eternal progression and trying to be perfect, and it occurred to me that there are actually some areas in which I am pretty close. I'm not dead yet, of course, so I guess I shouldn't just make assumptions, but I can say that so far I am perfect in never having smoked a cigarette (or anything like unto one). I have never knowingly consumed an alcoholic beverage. I graduated from college. I live with my family in a house that will be ours free and clear in 7.5 more years. I have accepted and tried to magnify church callings for the past 36 years.

Sometimes, when I'm overwhelmed by my own weaknesses and the thought of how much I have yet to conquer in the challenge of governing myself, it helps to remember these things. It's like looking at the shelf full of books that I've sent to press in the past. Even if there's a whole library ahead of me still to work on, I can say that these are finished.