M is for Messy...
Monday, as I look out my office window the gloomy naked trees and mud are nicely coated with a blanket of white snow! It isn't my favourite season, I'm not even pretending to love snow, or even remotely love being cold; but it is better than mud! Using my gratitude practice to keep things real!
I have a work crew in my basement finishing up the tiling project for our new bathroom; for those of you who share space with me here 'At Home' you know this hasn't been an easy process! Funny thing happened as I was cleaning the barn this morning; my thoughts were bouncing back and forth between the renovation projects we are working on here at home and the goal setting gathering I am preparing for clients on the 22nd; realization - my renovation project isn't all the different from our lifestyle projects!
Most of what we do to improve our home; we do ourselves, I am blessed with a husband, father and son who are very 'handy'; but from time to time we have to call on professionals. Most of what we do to improve our lifestyles and overall wellness is done on our own, we have to get 'handy' when it comes to cooking, moving and caring for our bodies; and sometimes we have to call on a professional to help us out! Not that big of a stretch? Call it my brains way of multitasking and attempting to cover two thoughts at once by drawing similarities?
At any rate the issues that have arose during this particular renovation are no different than what we experience as we are making changes to better our health; we suffer set backs, we miscalculate, it gets inconvenient and we have to give priority to something or someone else from time to time, it can be a slow process; much like my bathroom renovation - however slow things have gone, when I look at the tile on the floor - it was worth it!
The job has been progressing on other levels, behind the scenes; that in my frustration with this part have gone all but unnoticed! The fixtures are all here and ready to go, the lighting arrived yesterday, and the down time has given us an opportunity to look into some other options that we may not have considered if we hadn't been slowed down. So what felt like a set back, has actually become an opportunity to explore something new and better! The fact of the matter is once I get through this 'rough patch' of tiling the rest of the work will come together relatively quickly (knock on wood).
Sound like your lifestyle changes? As I was whining on a facebook rant about my renovation a friend commented... think 'big picture'! In lifestyle changes and all things life - the big picture rules! Most of what we change, take away, or add to improve our overall health doesn't offer instant gratification or benefit; it's a slow process, what keeps us moving forward is measurable progress, and the big picture!
When the goal is to lose weight, our focus becomes the numbers that come up on the scale; that is our measurement of progress. With that singular focus we miss the stuff that is happening behind the scenes, the better sleep, the more energy, the better mood, the increased focus, the improved strength and pain free movement... while we are waiting only for the numbers to drop, we are missing all the things that are rising!
Take your goal setting a step further, much like the many steps involved in a renovation, try not to get stuck on one outcome... set up measures for everything that will be in the big picture! My goal was a finished bathroom, I didn't calculate for what would be out of my control, and was missing the progress that was happening because I was focussed on what wasn't happening! When numbers don't go down on the scale, lifestyle changes can feel pretty hopeless!
This renovation project is the first of many that we have planned here at home; I am excited about all of them - want them all done yesterday - much the way many people come into a lifestyle change - excited and anxious that each change be the one that gets them right to the end goal! What's missing in that way of thinking? Only all the stuff in the middle!
The stuff in the middle is where you grow... discover yourself ... call in help when needed, and learn to trust their process as it relates to your big picture! In renovations, as in life you need to have a big picture, a rough estimation of what you think you want things to look like; but you also need an 'open for discussion' plan... you need steps, you need lots of measures of progress, you need to call in help when required, and you need to trust the process!
We don't always get what we want; and from experience I can tell you that isn't always a bad thing! When you are open to trusting the process, and moving forward at whatever speed it happens; you might just find the big picture you end up with; is far better than the one you originally created! The middle is messy; life is messy, embrace messy, open yourself up to trusting the process and just breathe right through the mess!
I have a work crew in my basement finishing up the tiling project for our new bathroom; for those of you who share space with me here 'At Home' you know this hasn't been an easy process! Funny thing happened as I was cleaning the barn this morning; my thoughts were bouncing back and forth between the renovation projects we are working on here at home and the goal setting gathering I am preparing for clients on the 22nd; realization - my renovation project isn't all the different from our lifestyle projects!
Most of what we do to improve our home; we do ourselves, I am blessed with a husband, father and son who are very 'handy'; but from time to time we have to call on professionals. Most of what we do to improve our lifestyles and overall wellness is done on our own, we have to get 'handy' when it comes to cooking, moving and caring for our bodies; and sometimes we have to call on a professional to help us out! Not that big of a stretch? Call it my brains way of multitasking and attempting to cover two thoughts at once by drawing similarities?
At any rate the issues that have arose during this particular renovation are no different than what we experience as we are making changes to better our health; we suffer set backs, we miscalculate, it gets inconvenient and we have to give priority to something or someone else from time to time, it can be a slow process; much like my bathroom renovation - however slow things have gone, when I look at the tile on the floor - it was worth it!
The job has been progressing on other levels, behind the scenes; that in my frustration with this part have gone all but unnoticed! The fixtures are all here and ready to go, the lighting arrived yesterday, and the down time has given us an opportunity to look into some other options that we may not have considered if we hadn't been slowed down. So what felt like a set back, has actually become an opportunity to explore something new and better! The fact of the matter is once I get through this 'rough patch' of tiling the rest of the work will come together relatively quickly (knock on wood).
Sound like your lifestyle changes? As I was whining on a facebook rant about my renovation a friend commented... think 'big picture'! In lifestyle changes and all things life - the big picture rules! Most of what we change, take away, or add to improve our overall health doesn't offer instant gratification or benefit; it's a slow process, what keeps us moving forward is measurable progress, and the big picture!
When the goal is to lose weight, our focus becomes the numbers that come up on the scale; that is our measurement of progress. With that singular focus we miss the stuff that is happening behind the scenes, the better sleep, the more energy, the better mood, the increased focus, the improved strength and pain free movement... while we are waiting only for the numbers to drop, we are missing all the things that are rising!
Take your goal setting a step further, much like the many steps involved in a renovation, try not to get stuck on one outcome... set up measures for everything that will be in the big picture! My goal was a finished bathroom, I didn't calculate for what would be out of my control, and was missing the progress that was happening because I was focussed on what wasn't happening! When numbers don't go down on the scale, lifestyle changes can feel pretty hopeless!
This renovation project is the first of many that we have planned here at home; I am excited about all of them - want them all done yesterday - much the way many people come into a lifestyle change - excited and anxious that each change be the one that gets them right to the end goal! What's missing in that way of thinking? Only all the stuff in the middle!
The stuff in the middle is where you grow... discover yourself ... call in help when needed, and learn to trust their process as it relates to your big picture! In renovations, as in life you need to have a big picture, a rough estimation of what you think you want things to look like; but you also need an 'open for discussion' plan... you need steps, you need lots of measures of progress, you need to call in help when required, and you need to trust the process!
We don't always get what we want; and from experience I can tell you that isn't always a bad thing! When you are open to trusting the process, and moving forward at whatever speed it happens; you might just find the big picture you end up with; is far better than the one you originally created! The middle is messy; life is messy, embrace messy, open yourself up to trusting the process and just breathe right through the mess!
Comments
Post a Comment