The Storm and a great lesson.
Hi I have not written anything for ages and as many of you will know I am in the process of a major renovation on a house.
The last time we did a major, we rented a property and because it was short term we found it difficult to get one close and suitable. There fore we decided to camp out and live in the property as we worked on it.
There have been some pretty hairy moments, not least of all when the neighbours retaining wall collapsed as we dug footings for our own wall.
I can already hear some of you asking the relevance of this story and how it relates in any way to self development. Well I think that you will find the contents invaluable, if you are having any trouble at working out how to handle the truth versus appearance.
The weather in Perth has been very strange lately and there has been more rain than usual, infact the wettest August/September for some 50+ years.
Well on Friday we had to make a decision whether or not to risk taking the roof off to allow us to fix the new extension roof on, being brave warriors as we are, the decision was made and the roofing guys duly dismantled a major part of the original roof.
There were spasmodic showers but they kept working and at the end of the day they put a huge tarp over the now gaping hole.
The point of this whole story is to illustrate the way our minds will give us a rough ride if we put in the wrong information or start trying to solve problems that do not actually exist.
I don’t know if any of you can really conceive the noise a 10 metre x 10 metre tarp makes in a strong wind, the sailors amongst you will definitely identify, but suffice to say it is like a gun going off.
Many of my regular readers will know that for any situation that is troubling you I give a simple formula, ‘Have I done everything I can?’ and second ‘Is there anything else I can do?” If the answer is YES and NO, then forget it until it presents as a real situation.
I assure you, this situation was worrying me as a storm was predicted that night.
I then followed my own advice and made sure that I did everything that I could to ensure that there were no leaks and that the tarp was secure and hopefully would not blow away.
Now here is where the lesson comes in, when I was in sight and hearing distance of the hole and the enormous noise it was making, I was very conscious of what MIGHT happen and my mind was going into overdrive as I sat just waiting for the worst to happen.
I was solving all eventualities and to be perfectly honest I was getting a little concerned.
That was when Val said ‘Take some of your own advice’ and as teachers usually do I said “ Are but this is different” lol.
The more I thought about it though ,the more I realised that this was exactly a scenario that fitted the formula perfectly.
I had in fact done all I could and as far as I could see there was no more I could do. Staying in earshot and constantly mulling over worst case scenarios was actually not helping at all in fact it was the classic truth versus appearance. The truth was that although the wind and rain was pouring down and the tarp was making an awful noise, there was not actually any rain entering the house.
I then decided to move to another part of the house where I could not hear the awful noise and the sound of the wind and rain. I decided to deal with anything that occurred when and IF it occurred.
This simple task although difficult got me through the night with out a constant fear of what MIGHT happen.
This is no different to a situation that you may have that you are constantly allowing yourself to be involved and have constant reminders of it.
This formula works and as I have just explained it is not confined to relationships, family or work. It works everytime in any situation.
“Have I done every thing I can?” “Is there anything else I can do?” If the answer is Yes and NO in that order, then forget about it until it presents itself as a problem. In my experience 95% of the situations never actually transpire.
I hope that helps and I will keep you updated as to my progress.
Hey what’s that noise ? lol.
