Making Mountains Out of Molehills
Beep, beep, beep. No matter the hour of day, our dishwasher beeped 3 times when the cycle was complete. This bothersome chirp continued every minute until someone opened and closed the door. Beeping for years (I do not exaggerate), my husband and I sigh or grunt to ourselves whenever we hear it - secretly hoping the other will deal with it. I would wait to get in bed knowing it was going to beep soon (WHAT!?!?! Reread that sentence to let ridiculousness sink in).
On Tuesday, I took control. One quick google search resulted in pressing 2 buttons for approximately 20 seconds and the beep was silenced.
A new floor lamp has been patiently waiting in its box to be assembled for the playroom. For months. Last night, I spent 10 short minutes assembling the new light, carried the old one down and now, feel like we have a new playroom. 10 total minutes to complete the task.
For months, one frame in the middle of a gallery wall I pass multiple times a day has been on the floor. This particular frame needed to be hung with a nail (all the more reason to put it off for 180 days at least, right?). I finally got out my picture hanging bin (yes, I have one) and hung the frame. Total time – 10 minutes.
These 3 tasks took approximately 23 minutes to complete but created way more than 230 negative conversations in my mind. Every single time the dishwasher beeped, I entered the playroom or walked by that frame, I’d get annoyed. Annoyed at myself that I hadn’t just done the thing AND that I was the one that had to do it. (Please note, I never asked anyone else to do them. Looking for a mindreader again, I suppose.)
The annoyance builds up inside of me. I know this about myself. But it doesn’t have to. JUST DO THE DARN THING.
Why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we let these tiny tasks that take minutes to resolve become huge projects in our minds? Why do we make mountains out of molehills?
I don’t have the answer. I do have the hope that this encourages you to unpack that suitcase write the thank you note frame the picture tackle just one of those tasks today. You can do it.