Life lessons can be found in some of the strangest places. I recently spent an afternoon washing a deck, and the process got me thinking about life. Here’s what came to mind.
1. The Things We Do Aren’t As Important As the Way We Do Them
Washing a deck is a chore, but it has to get done. Everyone has their own way of doing it, there’s nothing glorious about it, and it’s easy to do it poorly if you choose. When you start anything in life, you make a choice on how you want to do it.
Life can be a chore, and it’s full of things we simply have to do. However, we’re given an option as to how we choose to do things. There are tons of different ways life can be done, and some are better than others. You owe it to yourself to always do things to the best of your ability; even if what you’re doing at the time isn’t what drives you. It’s really easy to tell when someone has done a half-ass job on their deck, and it’s just as easy to see when people cut corners in their lives.
2. If You Go Too Fast, You Miss All the Little Bits
If you’ve ever pressure washed anything, you know it’s a task of patience. The second you start trying to pick up speed and rush through it, you notice all the extra dirt you end up leaving in the cracks. Your deck will have the obvious look of something that was rushed and not done very well.
Life is the ultimate task of patience. When you try to rush through it too quickly, you end up missing the little things. The difference between life and pressure washing is that in life you can’t go back over and catch the small things. In life, once you miss them, they’re gone. You’ve only got as long as you’ve got and there’s no reason to try and sprint through. Take your time–treasure the little things.
3. If You Focus on One Spot for Too Long, You Can Ruin It
First, you cut through the top layer of dirt. Then, you start making your way through any stain or sealant. Eventually, you start taking away the wood itself, leaving areas that are scarred and ugly. Know when it’s time to move to the next area.
Knowing when to move onto the next spot in life isn’t as easy. When you obsess on one part of a goal, it’s easy to lose focus on the end. When you spend too much time on one part of something, you run the risk of not being able to have enough time to finish. Sometimes, you end up making things worse as you continue to give them your focus. Know when you’ve done all you can and move on. Stay focused, but keep moving forward.
4. You Can’t Finish Without Taking It Piece by Piece
Just as it isn’t a good idea to go too fast, it’s also a bad idea to try and cover too much space at once. Pressure washing forces you to work, piece by piece, in order to achieve your end goal. If you try to clean too broad of an area too quickly, your work ends up looking sloppy. You end up having to go over parts of it again.
In life, you can’t expect to be able to knock out all of your goals immediately. You have to be diligent. Usually, the things you really want to accomplish take time. You have to reach small goal after small goal, all while keeping your eye on the end goal. If you try to accomplish your goals too quickly, you’ll find yourself going back and having to do things again. It’s a waste of time, and unfortunately, we get too little time.
Effort is a commitment to seeing a task through to the end, not just until you get tired of it. –Howard Cate
5. Once You Start It, You Owe It to Yourself to Finish It
Have you ever seen someone start cleaning a deck and not finish? It sticks out like a sore thumb. Even a deck with some imperfections looks better than one halfway done. If you start cleaning, make sure you have time to finish — even if it takes you longer than you planned.
It’s easy to start projects, but it’s much harder to see them all the way through. When you start a project and quit without giving it the effort needed to finish, it doesn’t disappear. You’re reminded during phone calls with the family, in conversations with friends, in your talks with your spouse about your day. Give yourself time to complete the things you start. Work on them as long as you need. If it’s a very long-term project, give yourself goals and checkpoints along the way to ensure you’re still working toward the finish line.
6. It’s Perfectly Fine to Be Proud of the Finished Project. Show It Off
A freshly washed deck is a wonderful thing. You can see the life bounce back into it. It’s OK to be proud of yourself for finishing, and other people will probably be proud too. When you invite people over for a barbeque, they’ll probably compliment you on a job well done. Take the compliments with humility and be proud of what you’ve accomplished.
It can be intimidating–you’ve worked on something, you put in the time, you put in the effort, and now it’s finished and ready to be seen. What if it isn’t as good as you think it is? Could you have done things differently to make it better? All of your insecurities come out of the woodwork. At the end of the day, these questions only hold you back. You know what you’ve put into it. Be proud, be humble, and show it off.
Put It All Together
Life is enhanced when you have goals and accomplishments to look forward to. At the end of the day, you’re the only one deciding how your goals are going to be achieved. You’re the one in charge of how you will live your life. Be intentional, be thorough, stay committed, and be proud of your accomplishments. Take your time instead of trying to rush through life. Enjoy the short time you have and give it all you’ve got.
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A version of this post was previously published on GoFindYourHappy and is republished here with permission from the author.
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Photo credit: istockphoto