You Can

You are capable of facing and addressing situations far more than you realize.

I’m going to give a backstory to illustrate my point.

It wasn’t long after I became a widow that I discovered how uncomfortable and often agonizing it can be to face the unknown.

There were many unknowns happening after my husband passed, and quite frankly, there still are. However, my focus for this blog is the unknown of maintenance and repairs I did not foresee and had no experience dealing with because I had never had to.

Within the month after my husband died, I had to pack up and move out of the house we had been renting in Incline Village, NV. It was March of 2020; we were at the start of the pandemic. I stayed with family till July, then worked my way to the family seasonal cabin in northern MN. In the fall, I had to find another place to live, so I rented a house in the southern suburbs of the Twin Cities, which I have since left.

Both the cabin and the rental needed maintenance and repairs, which I was ill-prepared to do due to my inexperience and lack of knowledge and appropriate tools. Hiring a repairperson or handyman was/is difficult, and supplies were/are expensive.

Over the last 5 years, I have come to understand I can face and address situations that I had previously not needed to. I have repaired hidden screw doorknobs, learned how and when to use various caulking types, learned to hitch and use a trailer (inexpertly by well enough), learned how to use carpentry and construction basic tools, built a workbench from scratch, chosen and installed shelving and organization pieces for the new shed, sanded and refinished a huge deck, and more.

When I first confronted the reality of the things that needed to be done and those I wanted to have done, in addition to the fact that unreliable help needed to be hired and supplies were costly, it was not only uncomfortable but agonizing.

I can tell you I had myself a nice pity party any number of times. Then, I accepted that if these things needed doing, I had to figure out how to do them. And I learned. I talked with family and friends long distance, asked for pointers from knowledgeable salespeople, asked neighbors for help when the job was too big for me to do solo, and found tutorials on YouTube. Then I got to work. And once I got over myself and accepted it did not have to be perfect, I started having fun.

My point in all of this, my friend, is that you are capable of doing anything you set your mind to do.

Sometimes, what needs doing is out of necessity, and sometimes, out of desire. Regardless, you can do more than you think you can. And you might actually have fun doing it 😊

And, once you embrace that – well, suddenly, you recognize there is no limit to what you can do.

So, my friend, have courage and get out of your own way. Set self-doubts aside because you are capable of facing and addressing situations far more than you realize 💙