greeteachday

I’ve been into a do it yourself home improvement mode for awhile. Had a visual image of what I wanted and little by little I’ve been doing it. As I go along, sometimes my visual image changes a bit, and I alter what I am doing. Got my downstairs walls and ceramic backsplashes in the kitchen done – put in chair railing and new molding and hardwood floors in my living room and dining room. But each step I take, I see something more I want to accomplish. Right now it is ripping up parquet in the foyer and hallways and putting down ceramic tiling. Ripping it out seems such a slow process. It’s on a slab and I have to chisel away little by little, and sometimes when I try one way, it doesn’t work, and I have to rethink and try again. .

I started thinking about how my projects are so similar to my recovery. I have this mental image of what and who I want to be, and I have to work little by little, chiseling away at old habits and ways of thinking, and gradually transforming myself by adding new ways of viewing myself and the world around me. Sometimes I think I know what it is I want, but instead, my HP sends me a different idea, and I adjust to what it is and find it is beautiful. As I chip at the parquet, I feel like I am working very hard, but accomplishing very little. But then I pick up the bag of pieces I am discarding and it is quite heavy. That bag to me is like the changes in me…seems so little when I look at it piece by piece, but then I realize how much weight I have taken off my shoulders…the burdens I have released to my higher power.

Like my home, I am a work in progress. As long as I keep moving forward and trying new ways, the changes will be good. But even when I think I am “done,” I need maintenance to keep my life and my home a place of peace and serenity.

I view you all as my consultants – my “Home Depot guys” who share your tips and tricks and tell me not to worry when I mess up and help me cover the flaws with something that works. Thank you so much for helping me in my remodeling! :ghug

grateful2b

Greet, thank you, I loved this share...it is a reminder that has helped me today Grateful

laurie6781

What a GREAT analogy.

Thank you so much for sharing this.

Love and hugs,

peaceteach

I just love a person who thinks metaphorically, Greet. This is fabulous. And very thought-provoking. One little chiseling at a time.

frankly

((Greet))

I can invision your beautiful home, both the house structure and the body. You are an inspiration to me. I'm one of those that gets impatient when the job doesn't seem to show much progress and I have to work on that daily. It was a wonderful reminder of how heavy the "parquet" really can be.

Hugs and Prayers
B

painter

What a way with words you have. I admire. Thank you for giving me something to think about. Love

baxter

I had a similiar experience a few years back when I was redoing my kitchen. I had tried repainting them still on their hinges and it was taking a lot of extra time, taping and all, so I decided to take them down and paint. One night waslking into the kitchen and looking into the cupboards and seeing all the clutter, since the doors always hid it, I thought it was kinda like what my life had become. I was keeping it nice on the outside, had a smile on my face all the time, but hadn't done any work on me, inside, my feelings we're as jumbled as the inside of my cupboards.

It looked like a big job to me but taking it shelf by shelf, baby steps, I finally got most of them cleaned out. Still have some I haven't touched but I'll get to them.

Sounds like you've done a lot of work and things are looking beautiful.

cmc

Thank you, Greet; that was just what I needed today.

GiveLove

Blessings to you, greet. What a great metaphor.

I have parquet too.......hmmmmm