During this time of Covid 19 I have spent a lot of time at home. I spent this time re-discovering my creative side while doing upgrades to my outdoor space. Since I wasn’t able to travel I wanted to create, what I would call an outdoor oasis, but who knew that in creating an outdoor oasis it would lead me to discovering some life lessons.
When I first started creating my oasis I shared a picture on social media of my simple patio that I spruced up by decorating it with cute pillows, a rug and a few other things. I received lots of likes and compliments and I felt good about what I created. It looked like a cute, elegant, stylish, relaxing spot. What people didn’t see in the pictures was the area off to the side of the patio where there was a patch of browning grass, patches where grass was missing all together and a deflated dirty looking kids pool laying in the corner. That area was small and looked as if it was good for nothing. Even though my patio was much larger than that little area, I couldn’t enjoy sitting on the patio because that area was so unslightly to me that it disturbed my peace. It didn’t matter that the patio was bigger. It didnt matter that I had put my best effort into decorating the patio. It didn’t matter that people told me how much they liked what I had done with the patio. Even all the social media likes and compliments about my patio could not distract me from the discomfort I felt sitting on the patio looking at that small ,shabby, grassy area.
I finally decided to do something about that grassy area. I explored my options and settled on building a small deck. The area was small so I didn’t have many expectations of being able to use the deck for much but once the deck was bulit I was pleasantly surprised. The deck gave me additional sitting space, an area for outdoor dining and a spot for the grill. My outdoor oasis was complete. The grassy area had seemed so small and puposeless but the deck showed that that space could be used to hold so much more than I expected.
As I thought about taking pictures of the deck addition to post on social media I started thinking about how no one knew about the ugly grassy area that used to be off to the side of the patio from the first pictures. Based on the angles I took the pictures from all that everyone had seen was the nicely decorated, well coordinated, well put together patio. I started thinking about how life is like that. How two people can be looking at the same thing but get two totally different views based on what angle they are looking at it from. I have pictures of my yard from one angle that shows the patio and that ugly grassy area and I have pictures from another angle that only show the beautiful decorated patio. I thought about how sometimes we may see a different version of a person or view a situation differently than how someone else sees it. It doesn’t mean that one person is wrong for what they see. They just might be standing in a different spot and getting different views. If you ever are stuck in an argument, conflict or just totally don’t understand someone else you may need to just change positions and try looking at that person or that situation from a different angle.
Another life lesson that came out of this whole experience was thinking about how I could not get peace until that grassy area next to my patio was fixed. I thought about how sometimes we can work so hard In life and appear to have it all together. We may have it together in one area, like the patio, but there may still be a small area in our lives that is, for lack of a better word, a mess, like the grassy area. When there is one area in our lives that needs to be changed or fixed, no matter how small it is it can still suck the joy, peace and life out of us.
Once I fixed the messy area in my yard my first thought was why hadn’t I done this sooner! It made such a big difference. I can now enjoy my patio and feel peace while sitting on it. Yes, there was a cost associated with fixing the area and I was scared that I might not like the end result but in the end building the deck brought me so much joy that it was well worth the investment. Having the deck built changed my view. No longer am I looking at a mess and what used to be an unusable, small, grassy area now has a purpose. It now holds a deck that holds a grill and a cute table and chair set. It now is providing something for me instead of taking from me.
If there is something in your life that needs fixing or to be changed just do it. It may cost something. It may cost time, people, money, etc . but you can’t let any of those things or fear stop you. You can’t let the hard work that has already been done in other areas of your life go to waste by not handling that small area that has been neglected and is disrupting your peace. Do something about it. Fix the mess. Check your angles. Change your view.
Shelley C.
