Thank you for clicking on this blog! You must be wondering why I’m writing about these stairs and specifying how they are vacuumed.
Let’s step back a little with some background. Early last year, my life was turned upside down with a relational breakdown, which I am proud and humbled to report now that with a lot of hard work and intention, there is improvement in that relationship. Is it perfect? Nope and probably won’t ever be, however it’s a daily work in progress.
Before that, the world was turned upside down with a virus that spread all over the world causing death, chaos, fear and as if that wasn’t bad enough, many are now starting to experience the aftereffects of the darkness that ravaged through our lives. I must say, I never thought I’d be dealing with a daily struggle with what’s going on in my head. Of course, I had walked through that valley once before in my youth and again in my young adult life, however now at the age of 42, I never thought … until… one challenge hit, then another one, then another and another. Life just didn’t seem to take a break from giving one loss after another, one hurdle after another. There are times I felt so discouraged, so lost that the inner voice of defeat got so loud, screaming at me to just give up. That the pain overtaking my entire being inside and out wasn’t worth it and that the best solution would be to just end it all. I felt like I was drowning, suffocating and no one could hear me cry out for help.
Having said that, you are reading this as I am still here. I give credit to those who spoke life into me during those dark times. My Creator is the main one, and the others, you know who you are. I didn’t give into the inner demons who wanted my detriment to be a reality. My reality is that most days a great, yet some days they aren’t. I get to choose how I want to live each moment. I can choose to wallow in sadness for a bit and choose to step out of the muck and be different.
You see the stairs; I walk up and down those stairs at least a few times each day. Recently, I noticed how each day, there would be something added to the carpet. Could be lint, a piece of string from a towel, a dust particle of some sort, and I would just let them be. I knew I could ask my kids and/or my husband to help vacuum it but I didn’t. I just let the carpet on the stairs accumulate ‘stuff’. I allowed my awareness of it sink in and then I asked myself. What area of my life and I avoiding dealing with. What pain am I numbing out? How is all that reflecting on the stairs of my home? Once I was aware and started working through my thoughts, I was no longer ignorant of it. An opportunity of choice was there now. I could choose to leave the carpet on the stairs the way it was and let it get worse, ask for help, or make a conscious choice to do the one thing I didn’t feel like doing. Which was get up off my butt, stop avoiding and just do what needed to be done.
Look at the stairs now! They are so nice to look at, so nice to walk on and I’m so proud of myself! Something which seemed so silly and simple helped fill my emotional tank and increase the good chemicals in my brain and shifted the energy for the rest of the day. I once heard a saying that “The mind is your brain at work”. WOW! That blew my mind. I not only ask how my heart is doing each day, but I also ask myself how my brain is today. How is my mindset? Is it going to serve myself and those I care about? If not, what one simple thing can I do to shift in order to create positive change.
ABC. Awareness before change. What win haven’t you celebrated yet?
About the Author
As the Director of Client of Experience for Certified Flourishing Coaching™, Cynthia is our support system when it comes to project management and administration in the FLCP Community. She also has over two decades of experience working with people and supporting in creating the most ideal results when it comes to complex situations, high performance, and conflict resolution.