If I Had a Hammer

I am happy to say that my husband and I just survived a small home remodeling project that we decided to take on ourselves. While some may think that a minor HGTV-like project is no big deal, I take great pride the fact that, after eighteen years of marriage, we can spend a week in total chaos together and somehow make it through without killing each other.

From my perspective (not sure my husband would agree), I found the whole project a bit therapeutic. It was sort of like a couples retreat; but without the counselor, fancy food, and long walks by the lake. Instead, it was a living room crammed with dishes, pots and pans, late night dinners of pizza eaten while sitting on the floor and two inches of dust covering the entire house. It’s definitely not everyone’s idea of therapy. But hey, it works!

One thing I have to admit is that I am not what you might consider a handyperson. I am not patient enough to always find the right tools for a certain task and worse yet, I don’t even realize that these tools exist. If I have a hammer, a screwdriver and a paint brush, I will try my hardest to make it work and then when I have gotten myself in trouble, I scream for help and beg for forgiveness as my husband cleans up my mess.

Since I had far too much time to think, I began to make some parallels about tools and life. Personal experiences, skills, abilities and emotional capacity are the tools. They help us complete tasks like taking a risk, overcoming a new or difficult situation. At times, we may find that we don’t have the right tools in our personal tool kit.

I think it is wise to take inventory of the tools we have in our toolkit and try our best to use them to the fullest, but I also think it is important to ask for help from others early on. Trust me, I tried my hardest to get that screw into the hole with a hammer and it just doesn't work!

Comments

[Susan Schneider]

I appreciate the note and glad you liked the message – still trying to get the paint out of my hair!

[Don Kreye]

Thanks for the great message this week!