Some assembly required.
My stepdaughter Austin got a new bed from Ikea as a gift from her oldest sister. Since I am the man, it's my job to assemble it, or so the tradition goes.
Unfortunately I was born without the fix-it gene, or it has deteriorated overtime from disuse and avoidance. My m.o. in these situations over the years has been to wait the rest of the household out, or to string together so many cuss sentences of rampant frustration that someone else takes up the task in disgust. A few other times I've had a softball buddy or someone else nearby that I could bribe with a sixpack of beer.
It's a remarkable achievement that I've reached the 54th year of my life without ever putting anything together, a long legacy of sloth, immaturity and irresponsibility it's taken a lifetime to achieve.
I can't fix things. I can't put things together. And I don't have time to whine about it. Austin gets home from school in a couple of hours, and like every other reasonable child she's entitled to a bed to sleep in.
I got all the parts out and basically arranged, but the meager instructions don't say what goes into where.
So now, for the first time in my underachieving life, I'm going to do the responsible thing.
I'm fighting off the urge to play poker or go to the gym or storm off in a miserable huff. I'm sucking it up, and googling tech support.
Stay tuned. It's me against Some Assembly Required, and if I can conquer this demon, anything is possible.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
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This is the Way the Transformation Begins
"Some men see things as they are and say why? I dream things that never were and say "Why not?"
George Bernard Shaw, Robert F. Kennedy
This is the way the transformation begins.
It begins in me.
It begins now.
It begins with small incremental changes and shifts in attitude
it begins with positive action
failing forward
and suddenly I start looking at the world and my place in it in a new way. I speak differently and dress differently and project a different energy, and the world opens up like a glorious pink azalea bush, eight feet tall and blooming like mad.
photo by Kajo123 from the website flickr.com
Good morning!
An engineer builds a bridge and every bolt and weld has to be exactly right; every measure has to be perfect, or the bridge collapses or fails to take its place. Fantastically detailed blueprints have to be laid out. Impact statements have to be filed, sediment has to be studied, years of effort, months of planning, and a man-made marvel rises in the sky. Park somewhere and take a good look at a bridge, and think of all the skill and knowledge and hard honest work it took to create it. Consider how a few thousand years ago we were living in caves.
It is not so with a dream. Some people are remarkable dreamers and dreams spring whole from them, or they can leap up from bed and pages of creative genius flow out of their pen, intricate and perfect. Most of us though are baby dreamers, new at it and tentative to the trust the power of what we wish for.
Start the dream! Whether you want to go to nursing school or college or learn to play the guitar, take a first step, now, even in the wrong direction. Don't wait for the blueprint to come to you, the environmental impact statement, the permits and the 200-page budget and legislative dream approval. Rough it out, sketch it on a napkin, tell a friend, and take action. Your dream begins the moment you step out in first moment of believing, and the result can touch a thousand souls. Listen to Jim Valvano: never give up, never surrender. Believe in the audacity of action and your fantastic potential for change and new opportunity.
It is not so with a dream. Some people are remarkable dreamers and dreams spring whole from them, or they can leap up from bed and pages of creative genius flow out of their pen, intricate and perfect. Most of us though are baby dreamers, new at it and tentative to the trust the power of what we wish for.
Start the dream! Whether you want to go to nursing school or college or learn to play the guitar, take a first step, now, even in the wrong direction. Don't wait for the blueprint to come to you, the environmental impact statement, the permits and the 200-page budget and legislative dream approval. Rough it out, sketch it on a napkin, tell a friend, and take action. Your dream begins the moment you step out in first moment of believing, and the result can touch a thousand souls. Listen to Jim Valvano: never give up, never surrender. Believe in the audacity of action and your fantastic potential for change and new opportunity.
The Hawthorne Bridge at sunrise, Portland Oregon. Photo by Joe Collver, from flickr.com
Genuine happiness and success start with an attitude of abundance
Make it a daily practice to begin your day with five minutes of thankfulness. You can even do it in your car on the way to work. Do it in your own way, whether it's thoughtful reflection or a prayer or singing out loud, but focus on your rich, amazing, abundant life.
Feeling grumpy or resentful or worried instead of thankful? Change direction! Consider the incredible gifts you have--mind, body, spirit, senses, your family, your friends, your clothes, your car, and the breakfast you enjoyed this morning. By the standards of 99% of the world, Americans are incredibly, amazingly rich. You truly have no idea how richly blessed you are until you start thinking about it. Even the heart that beats within you and the lungs that breathe your air are an intricate and amazing miracle.
Some of my favorite movies are ones that feature a once-defeated character waking up to an absolutely new day: "It's A Wonderful Life," the various versions of Dicken's "Christmas Carol" and "Groundhog Day." How exhilarating it is for George Bailey to wake up and realize his life isn't over, it's just beginning, and that today truly is a brand new day.
"It's a Wonderful Life"
George returns home to everything he ever wanted.
2 comments:
Dad--
Ikea is awesome but their directions do leave a little to be desired. Feel bad for Tom come tax time he has to put together the entire Ikea bedroom set, bed, two nightstands, two big long dressers, and a storage chest. It'll be good for him. But only after he finishes installing our hardwood floors, and that was after he installed the new garbage disposal and the new sink sprayer thingy. When he's gone I'm doomed (do you think they can send him back from Afghanistan when things break????) Good luck with the bed, let me know how it goes.
Me
When you probably allow yourself to cry about Tom being gone, it will probably be over some silly task you will wish he was there to do.
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