A while ago I started feeling “boxed-in” at home…
I felt as if I could not breathe properly and there was not enough light in the house. I was certain it was because my bedroom is too dark and the walls too purple (lol). After much searching on Pinterest I decided the only option was to bring sunshine in and to paint my room yellow.
The evening before the “Big Paint” was due to start, we took all the pictures off the wall, removed all the ornaments and dragged all the chairs and rugs out of the room. The only things left behind were us, the bed and the old honky-tonk piano (which is simply too heavy to go anywhere!). There were still two flowers in little bottles standing on the piano and I looked at them etched against the empty wall and thought…. “how beautiful”.
I did not need a different colour in my life – I just had to get rid of the clutter and go back to where I was when it was just me and the bed and the piano.
We often think that a new house and new STUFF can save a marriage, or a new car will give us a better personality. We hope that a new job will sort out our insecurities …..or that we will feel better about ourselves when we look back at the girl or guy ogling us in the lift. We even change churches so we can hear God’s voice with more clarity!
Sometimes it is enough to just stop and go back to the beginning …… to the room with the empty walls….there where you are able to breathe and listen to the voice inside.
There is always time enough for a fresh start.
Clean up!
Move the obstacles that are stealing your time with your partner…
making you late for work –
those things causing you to feel like you are praying against the ceiling.
If it requires physical spring cleaning, do it with a broom and take down the old curtains.
If there are too many appointments in your diary while your family is begging for time with you,
make a plan and stick to it.
I still ended up painting my room yellow but I am now careful with selecting the items I am bringing back into it.
I have learnt the lesson here that it is not about STUFF,
but more about getting up a little earlier to breathe….
my husband’s arms,
and noticing the simple things upon which the very same sun shines every day.
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