I’ve just spent the five days working as a decorator’s assistant for a friend of mine, with a few more weeks of it to come. At some point, in amongst all the sanding and filling and papering and painting, it came to me how the whole process reflects perfectly the choices we have as we move through life. Bear with me. I know it all sounds a bit of a stretch, but let me explain.
If you are decorating a room that has seen better days (and the rooms I was working on definitely had!) there are two main approaches you can take. One is to splosh on a quick, thick coat of paint to hide the stains, dirt and crumbly bits and to stick a bit of wallpaper over the cracks.
The second is to get right back to the basics, take your time and do the groundwork properly. Thorough preparation of what is underneath, even though it won’t be seen once the paint and paper is applied. Treat the stains, clean the dirt, fill all the cracks and crumbly bits, and sand, sand and sand again until it is as good as it can be.
The first approach is the quick, easy solution. The second much harder work and much more time consuming. But in the long run, which one remains strong, stable and in good condition?
So too, in life. When something isn’t working, when it is tired, stained and a bit crumbly at the edges, does it work if we just cover these defects with a sheet of wallpaper and a lick of paint? Or do we need to go right to the heart of the problem and deal with it once and for all?
We all have our own special quick fixes. Maybe for you it is alcohol. Or sex? Or food? Or anything else that temporarily distracts our attention off what is wrong. For me, I head for the Dairy Milk! The only problem with this is that when the quick fix wears off, the cracks reappear and we have to get a new fix. Or maybe we take some desperate action in the hope it will change things, like walking out of our job, or moving home, or ending a relationship. The snag here is that, unlike the walls of a room which tend not to move around, in life the stains and crumbly bits follow us, re-emerging time and time again, perhaps in different guises, until they are properly dealt with. You can add paint upon paint upon paint, but sooner or later the cracks and stains WILL reappear. And all that covering up is hard, exhausting work.
So what is the solution? Simple. DO THE PREP. Uncover the problem, and put it right once and for all. Yes, it will take time initially, and will require a lot more up front effort, and just like some tricky wallpapering it may be worth calling in some professional help to support you, but once it’s done, that’s it. You know it’s been dealt with properly. And your life will thank you for it.
I am an author and spiritual adventurer. You can find out more information about me and my books from my website at www.dkhenderson.com
My books:
FICTION
The Skull Chronicles series:
– Lost Legacy, Book I – available in paperback & Kindle from Amazon.uk & Amazon.com (& worldwide) & in multiple ebook formats from Smashwords
– The Red Skull of Aldebaran, Book II – available in paperback & Kindle from Amazon.uk & Amazon.com (& worldwide) & coming soon in multiple ebook formats from Smashwords
– Daughter of the Gods, Book III – available in paperback & Kindle from Amazon.uk & Amazon.com (& worldwide) & coming soon in multiple ebook formats from Smashwords
NON-FICTION
Forgotten Wings: A handbook for spiritual growth & personal transformation – available in paperback & Kindle from Amazon.uk & Amazon.com (& worldwide) & coming soon in multiple ebook formats from Smashwords
Read my other blogs here:
www.thenakedheartblog.wordpress.com – writing from the heart
www.thebigadventureblog.wordpress.com – my USA adventure
www.dkhendersonauthor.wordpress.com – blog serialisation of my first novel, Lost Legacy
soulwhispering
soulwhispering 