“A sink full of dishes…”
Shared by Breanne Smedley
It’s a daily occurrence in our house.
A sink, filled with pots, pans, and dishes.
And a spot next to the sink stacked high with clean pots, pans, and kitchen utensils.
Looking as if one more thing were place on top, it would all come toppling down.
And a dishwasher loaded, either waiting to be run or waiting to be unloaded.
The cycle seems like it never ends. Always something to be washed, loaded, or put away.
It’s not that we neglect doing our dishes.
In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Brett and I are constantly saying to each other things like:
“Didn’t we JUST run the dishwasher yesterday?”
“The sink was clear of dishes last night, how is it full again?!”
“There are only 2.5 people living in this house, how do we produce so many dirty pots and pans?!”
Yesterday, as I was in front of the sink trying to scrub my way to the bottom of yet another pile of utensils and pots, I let out another complaint.
“I feel like I’m ALWAYS doing dishes!”
Brett responded, “Well, we could solve that problem, easily!”
“We could just eat out all the time. Then we wouldn’t have as many dishes to do.”
He had a point. Eat out more often.
That would solve our dish problem.
But, it would create a whole host of new problems.
It would quickly get expensive, leaving us with less money to do other things.
It’s unhealthy to do all the time.
It would take the novelty of “eating out,” as something special.
And those are problems that I don’t want to deal with.
I’m reading a book right now called, “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck,” by Mark Manson. (You should read it, by the way).
In it, Manson points out the obvious:
Life is full of problems that never go away.
Solving one problem actually gives rise to other problems.
“Mo money, mo problems,” as Biggie would say…
However, happiness, he says, comes from solving problems.
And the key is finding the ones that you enjoy having, and enjoy solving.
So, our “dish problem” is actually a result of solving the problem of wanting to eat healthy, cook meals at home, and eat together as a family.
Our constant dishwashing a struggle we choose to engage in, because we value what causes the problem.
It’s the same way in other parts of our life.
We find happiness, not by avoiding problems or hiding from pain and struggle, but by engaging in them.
We find what matters to us. We ask ourselves “What struggle am I willing to engage in, because I value the outcome?”
Our struggles determine our success.
“Our problems birth our happiness, along with slightly better, slightly upgraded problems.” Manson says.
Our sink full of dishes is actually just an upgraded problem.
Brett and I decided that our solution is going to come in a few years.
When Charlee is tall enough to do our dishes for us!
#MindfullyEvolving
Comments
Post a Comment