Keeping at it
In the back of our garage we have a little room that we call our wareroom. It used to be my woodshop but since we've been making glass we've been using it for a little warehouse where we keep all of our glass as well as raw materials and supplies for our glass furnace.
When we built the house we drywalled the garage and shop but never finished and painted the drywall. It was one of those things that we figured that we could do in the future. Well the future is finally here. At least I think it is, based on the fact that we decided to finish and paint the back room. So we took everything out of the wareroom and put it all over the place. Most of it we placed in the garage. The more fragile things we placed in our spare bedroom.
And so our house feels like a wreck. On top of all of this we've had a busy week. And so I spackled and sanded pretty much on the fly. And not being a professional, I mostly put on too much drywall compound which meant that I sanded a lot to get it smooth. I sanded every chance that I got. I sanded while my glory hole heated up in the morning. I sanded after work. If Aiyana had a volleyball game, well then I sanded for a little before we headed to the game. I sanded after supper. Sanding can be boring. But, eventually all of those little spurts of hurried boredom paid off.
Today Jenelle and I will start painting our wareroom. It won't be as nice as our living quarters, but it will be nicer than it was. And once we get our shelves and things back in place, it'll feel a little more presentable.
I'm one of those people that starts on things but then sometimes I get bored and really have to push myself to finish. Sometimes Jenelle has to push me. But I've learned over the years that if you want to reach your goals, it takes work and perseverance.
As we get older, the goal isn't always about getting better or reaching a goal. Sometimes it's more about maintaining. The hope is that we get better at whatever we're doing, but it's probably not the reality. If we can only stay where we're at and maintain that level of accomplishment, that is an accomplishment in itself. But often the small and boring or seemingly unproductive things that keep us at that level get left undone and we go backwards a few steps.
Things like that 10 minute stretch every morning. That mile long walk because it's too cold or too hot outside. Not practicing with your bow because you are too busy. Finding some quiet time to seek direction.
For me the big one is taking five or ten minutes at the end of each day to put my tools away. A couple of days of neglect and eventually I have a huge mess. It's not something that I'm proud of. It really only affects me, which makes it even easier to neglect.
Another one is stretching. Bow season is here and I feel like a gimpy old man. I wish that I had taken stretching and strengthening my muscles a little more seriously this summer. I have a knee that gets stiff and sore and a bad back. My back has been feeling pretty good lately, but not so much my knee. And I know there are some exercises that would have helped, had I taken the time to do them.
When I bow hunt I like to hike way back into some steep and rough country. Usually I carry a tree stand and a backpack. Sore knees, backpacks, and steep terrain don't always go well together. I should have kept after it.
As Jenelle and I work on our wareroom together, I see an even bigger part to the equation. Having someone that's encouraging or going through the hard or boring part with you can make it whole lot easier, especially when you have the same goal in mind!
For some of us it's important to find that friend or some like minded soul to go on that routine walk with, or join an actual fitness class or even just finding someone with a similar goal that you can sincerely ask, "Hey, how is it going?" Others can do it on their own.
The bottom line is that it doesn't matter whether you have a friend or not to do it with, you just need to keep at it! And if you're feeling like you don't have that support that you need, I hope my little writing is enough to get you there until you find it.
So keep pushing!
One day you'll be glad that you did!
