How many times have you embarked on something only to think, “Oh no… this is harder than I expected.”
In our lovely, quirky Victorian home, everything seems to take longer and throw up more problems than we were anticipating.
When the “simple” task of stripping and painting the walls throws up shot plaster, decades of paint that will not leave the wall unless adhered to the fresh paint on the roller and far more damp patches than seem reasonable… it’s easy to feel overwhelmed or disheartened.
The figurative groan that we can feel is all too familiar.
Yes, this is the second successive email about decorating, and despite being at the very low end of the ‘skill-set-spectrum’, I am beginning to see a pattern emerging from the work of painting and decorating and how it can dovetail with the work that I do for a living (which I like to think I am much better at, rather than figuring out which end of the paintbrush is more appropriate to use!)
The good news is, of course, that I have been reinstated as my wife’s first choice, I mean only labourer/assistant!
There are two things that I want to bring your attention to if you are currently feeling this way about any situations in your life.
Firstly, a phrase taken from a wise sage who was encouraging me when I was working in a banana field in Israel. My job was to lay irrigation pipes for hundreds of yards… and I felt totally overwhelmed at the task ahead.
The man I was working with, Gilead, looked at me and said, “Paul, don’t focus on the enormity of the task ahead. You need to look back at how far we have come already, and be encouraged by that.”
The second exhortation is to remind you that sometimes stripping back is necessary to reveal the reality of a situation.
This makes me think of certain situations I have been in, as well as some of the people I have coached have found themselves in. Typically, it involves taking on a team of people, who upon first glance, all seem very united and happy to work together.
It doesn’t take a lot of…how shall I put it…? Scraping off some of the old wallpaper way of doing things before a potential full scale rebellion is on your hands.
Most people don’t like change, so when you find yourself being the one who represents a great deal of change but only you can see the longer term benefits, it can be a tricky thing to navigate your way through.
Rather like old wallpaper or lining paper – even with a great deal of steam applied over the top of it!
However, with some perseverance, hard work and plenty of enthusiasm, it is always worth the effort.
Until next time, be blessed to be a blessing!
Paul
