My huge win (HUGE) last week was that I fixed my stupid washing machine, by myself. (By fixed I mean I took out 4 big moving bolts in the back of the machine that were supposed to be removed when installed and forgotten about by the installers.) This may sound small and ridiculous - but in my life, where my skills are less than most people in the area of tools and fixing things, this was epic. I have been without a washing machine for 2 months and it has weighed on my shoulders - a small constant nag inside that was bothering me. How many more small things that I have control over are inside my head, creating stress?
My coach talks about tolerations. Like the messy desk that we say to ourselves “I need to clean that” or the unorganized garage or the extra weight we have that consumed our thoughts because our clothes are getting tighter*. She tells me that if we check these things off our lists we can move to the bigger things and then bigger things and life will improve.** I’m all about improving life and reducing anxiety.
This pandemic has wiped our slates clean. We have been forced to change our behaviors - masking, dining out, going to games and movies and concerts … it’s also forced us though, to re-evaluate. We can’t use the excuse “I don’t have time” when it comes to our tolerations anymore. We probably do have time, and if we can tackle those things that cause us anxiety we can move down the list to the next thing and the next thing and next thing …
Our post pandemic lives can and will be amazing!!
*covid-19
**I originally called a repair place to fix my installed, yet not fixed, washer and then called the manufacturer, and they said “Steve … this is something you can do, don’t pay a lot of money for someone else to do it.” I thought “nope, I can’t” but then it bugged me all night and I woke up the next morning at six, got out the installation manual and squeezed my body into a tiny space and fixed it. Yay me!!
