Tag redmodeling

Teeny Tiny Red Cabin/anxiety/part two

Hello, everyone,

I haven’t fallen off the earth. We are in middle of two re-modeling projects. They really aren’t big projects but because of where the rooms are located, we are having to circle the house outside to go from one part of the house to the other. Today the contractors are leaving. Tomorrow we are heading to “teeny-tiny red cabin” here and here. We are leaving unpainted rooms, unfinished trim, etc. We won’t even finish up when we get back because we are going to paint some rooms at our son’s new home. He and his family will be moving in a few months. Thanks goodness it’s only about forty minutes away.

Thought I would take a minute this morning to urge all of us to be more careful how we evaluate people. The two men we are having do this work are two of the nicest, most competent people we’ve ever employed for any of our remodeling projects. They don’t work as fast as I’d like and at first and I worried thinking we’d hired people who maybe were not qualified. However, they were recommended by a local businessmen so we assumed they would be ok.

They never rushed. They were methodical in their approach. I assume (based on their speech) that they are under educated. However, they are certainly intelligent. They’ve been a pleasant surprise. Congenial, conversational, interesting, etc. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed them and their work is perfection. Seriously, how often does that happen with contractors? Not often.

It has reminded me again that most people are very interesting and worth knowing. It’s been a good experience. We’ve been fortunate in that most people we’ve hired have been very good although like most people, we’ve had at least one not-so-good experience.

But I’ve missed talking with all of you. I find that I feel slightly out of sorts because I haven’t posted anything much this week. If there are some of you reading today that are experiencing a bout of depression, I want to suggest you start a blog or an on-line journal just for yourself. If I could figure out the technical stuff, so can you. You never have to make it public but the writing alone is so therapeutic. It’s a safe way to vent. I wish I had done it years ago. 

Talking to someone you don’t know, in this case your computer, frees you to write unedited. What is especially worthwhile is reading what you’ve written. You’ll be surprised at what you learn. For example, I learned that while I’ve pretty much conquered my depression, I still have to manage it more than I realized. Most of all, I struggle with my thoughts and negatively projecting into the future. This has helped me enormously-the awareness that I have to be aware of my thinking. Does that make sense?

Remember I mentioned my son is moving about forty minutes away? I want you to know I NEVER worried about that-not once. And yet it is happening. While I’m thrilled for my son because the move is due to a long-sought-after position, I’m sad. At present, they are two blocks away. The point is that not worrying about this didn’t stop it from happening. Years ago my husband had a heart attack. Hmm, never worried about it. Our adorable two year old “Lukey” was born with Down sydrome. Never gave it thought.  My mother fell over two years ago and no longer drives. I never worried about her falling but I did worry about the day she would no longer drive. That turned out to be not a big deal at all.

But of all the things I have worried about, very few happened. I don’t think I have to make the obvious point, do I?

I guess the point of all this is that

• Give people as much a break as you can. Get to know them before you come to any conclusions.
• Keep a journal, especially if you deal with depression/anxiety.
• QUIT WORRYING

Live is going to present you with all kind of real problems to deal with. Save you worrying for then. And if you’re a Christian, trust that God’s grace will get you through even if some of the things you are worried about do happen.

This post has been a little unorganized because what does my contractors have to do with worrying? Nothing, really. Just wanted to write today and this is what what came out. I’ll be writing a lot next week with more focus. Till then, have a blessed day and I hope it’s a good one for you.