It may be the touch of paint required in 1 location, the bit of grout missing, the silicone around a pipe, just a tiny thing, but hey, you've done so much and it seems so tiny in comparison, so there it sits, waiting, silently and most often forgotten.
This was the case with our stove splashback.
We got quotes to have a glass pane installed - around $3000.00 and even the money wasn't the issue, it was trying to get tradies out to measure and quote and decide and fit.
If it was a big job, it would be done, but it's not and so it waits.
We finished our kitchen around 2 years ago and here it sits still waiting...........
We painted the wall behind it and kept a fire extinguishers nearby as it wasn't quite up to standards, but it just goes into the too small to be bothered with category.
I was up at a hardware store last week and found some tiles, pretty standard 200mm white tiles with a pattern in them that looks like water splashes, quite plain but nice, $1.10 each so the price is no object.
I called Daryll and got the measurements, around 20 tiles required in total, add grout $5, adhesive $5, so far up to around $30, but a bit plain.
Found some lovely rock pebble borders $19 per pkt of 5 which should do the trick, job done, supplies in tow, grand total of around $50 spent.
This morning I decided today was the day, Daryll zipped out for theatre productions for a while, the kids were busily entertaining themselves on computer games (well cleverly disguised home educating maths and English literature programs made to look like games - they just couldn't believe their luck at being allowed on the computer for a couple of hours - hehe!, evil tricky giggle sneaks in here!)
I don the old clothes, lay out a cloth and set to work - 50 minutes later - yeah - 50 minutes - that's it!
Job done - what????
It looks fantastic, the kitchen appears to have had an overhaul, cooking is now safe, it seems like the entire area is fresh and lovely and the rock finish at the top just made it perfect.
Daryll comes home from the theatre - having been gone for 1 hr to "Hi honey, I'm finished would you like a cuppa?"
We can't believe it.
We position the chairs to face the magnificent stove finished area - yes, you know that 'proud' feeling when the view of the stove is even more appealing than the view of the paddock and the trees down the valley and over the hill.
Warm up with a lovely cup of tea and thus begin the discussion on completing projects.
As we talk we realise that it really took so little effort, yet adds so much. At this stage we aren't sure what changes will follow as a result so we are pleasantly awaiting the energy changes this brings.
One of the golden rules in feng shui is to keep your stove and oven clean. In feng shui, the stove represents the heart of the house and when it is cluttered or dirty it represents the heart of the house being unclean and messy. It is the one thing to always make clean in your home to ensure a happy, loving environment.
Now ours was clean, but unfinished and it certainly looks 100% better now, so we are pleasantly awaiting the changes this may bring.
Our discussion moved to how many 'little' jobs await us, around the home, with the kids, in the offices.work, friends, family, etc. We pondered on how little time these things take, but the difficulty in getting around to them and finally achieving them.
Most of my life, I have been inspired by Jackie French and her writings (eco aware gardener), she always says she has never eaten a fruit she really enjoyed and not planted the seed, sure some die and won't make it, some don't bear fruit easily, but just imagine if you planted every seed you ever enjoyed the fruit from.
In her last article she mentioned she now has over 350 different types of apples growing (& those are just the apples!)
Imagine that sort of abundance!
The feeling that comes from knowing your property is able to feed you and your family no matter what your finances look like. Perhaps invest in a 2nd hand bottling unit (my next purchase - if anyone has one they no longer use - let me know) and then a gorgeously laden pantry filled with bottled fruits and vegetables all year round. Now you have my attention!
To me, this typifies wonderful abundance - I'm in!
Last winter we planted 25 bare rooted fruit trees, 2 didn't make it, but the other 18 did - yay! Daryll was saying how they are growing very slowly, but hey, we never tend them, they are just left on their own and it is my experience (in hard Warrandyte clay) that the ones that survice may take longer to get going, but are also less likely to die when the weather turns on them a bit.
I was thinking, imagine if I planted 25 trees every year! It seems like yesterday we moved in but actually it was 11 years ago, that would be 275 fruit trees down the paddock right now, but what if instead of planting bare rooted trees I just planted 1 seed each week (or even a few) that's more than 52 trees a year - at no cost what so ever.
Now you may be thinking, but my property is not that big, you may be surprised! I have seen remarkable garden on tiny properties, even on balconies in apartments, sure you won't be able to support your entire food requirements, but it all helps. Grow too many fruit trees, sell them off on eBay, at a garage sale or local market, now you've got money coming in from it.
Get the idea?
Everything is difficult when it's big, but everything that's big can be broken down to be small.
Imagine renovating the entire house - way too hard!
50 minutes tiling behind the stove for $50 total - sure, why not - easy!
Imagine you wrote a list (this is a good thing to do and an idea we are considering), perhaps on a whiteboard or glass pane and wrote down every little odd job you could think of around the house/office / kids / work, I mean EVERYTHING, write it all down.
Then step back and look at it, for a moment you may feel overwhelmed, but then look again, the big picture is made up of many tiny pictures, are any of them impossible? No! Of course not, because each one is just a little thing on it's own.
So now what?
Decide which one you will do next and get the supplies you need to do it, have them lay around and annoy you for a week or so until you are itching to get them out of the way too and then wake up one morning and do that job - just that job - don't worry about the other 88 jobs you listed - just give that one job your attention.
In no time, you'll be having a cuppa proudly looking on at what you just created.
You will feel proud, a sense of accomplishment and like you have achieved something.
However after a short time another feeling may arise.
One that says, "well, that wasn't so hard was it, pretty easy and didn't take much time at all and I did a great job at that"
A few moments later a realisation will wash over you that says, "Oh, my goodness, I have been putting off these obs for 10 years - maybe more, if I just did one a week or even 1 a month, but the end of the year, another 12 jobs would be completed"
Now stop, let that reality sink in................
At the end of the year - another 12 jobs completed!
It may not sound like much, but did you achieve 12 of your goals last year - perhaps not, why not? because put together they are all too big.
Begin it now, if you are inspired now, stop reading (I'm going to end this chapter now so you can), go and get a small whiteboard, a tile, a piece of paper, a pane of glass, what ever you have a begin your list of to do's. Measure up anything that needs measuring ie - tile space.
Then next time you are out, you can find exactly what you require to complete the job at hand and set about your first task.
Then one by one, work through the list, do not finish one and immediately move on to the next, you will burn out and it all becomes big again - not to mention the cleaning purge as I recently experienced!
Just do one and then enjoy it, allow yourself to feel the satisfaction and wait for the positive changes to begin to flow into your life................
go now, get that pen/paper/pencil...................... I can't wait to hear what changes happen for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment