Yesterday, I was downstairs in the shop organizing hardware storage cabinets. Small bins hold everything from nails and screws to plumbing and electrical parts, and they’re all labeled by their contents, so we know where things are. The process is pretty mindless. For example, screws are separated by drives like slotted, Phillips, and hex.

Sorting and relabeling (for hours), I realized that the shop has a lot of analogies to life!

---

1. Sometimes, I just have to stop what I’m doing, sort things out and then choose how to move forward.
Do you regularly stop and sort life things out? Or, do you just keep going—unaware of where life is “out of place”?

2. There are times when something small in the shop doesn’t go back exactly where it should because I’m out of time or there aren’t enough of those particular bolts or screws or nails to “warrant” their own space.
Life doesn’t always go back to the way we think it should.

3. Some things end up in the shop but they really don’t belong there.
Do you ever feel like you just don’t belong?

4. At times, I rush through a project and don’t give it the attention it truly deserves.
Do you ever rush through just to get something done, missing the opportunity to live fully in each moment (since the one we’re in right now is the only one that’s guaranteed)?  

5. Some things have been in the shop for years even though they still haven’t been repaired or used.
How often do we throw (or hide) random things in our houses, closets, offices or cars because we just don’t know where they “belong”?

6. Now and then, I’m just tired from all the effort and I simply close the shop doors.
Is it easy for you to just “close the door” and let life pass by?  

7. Sorting finish nails (what you use to attach trim) reminded me of the times when I’ve gotten impatient and driven the nails into the wood just to get the project done, but didn’t fill in the little holes, sand them down and repaint them, until I finally noticed that the project wasn’t really complete.
Even when we think we’re at the “finish line” of something, there are times when there’s more work to be done.  

---

So, some of what I remembered yesterday is that:
1. yes, my friends and family are right, I can be a type A, control freak.
2. order and structure bring me a modicum of calm, but my poetry (which is all over the place) brings me peace.
3. life goes much too fast and I hold in tension the freedom of living in the moment and the control of having things “Zen enough” to make me comfortable.
4. and, maybe there should be times when I drive a finish nail in, put a little paint on top of it and be a-okay with the less-than-perfect but “done” part of that project. Because, maybe, less-than-perfect is okay.

I hope the coming week is as organized, creative and Zen as you need it to be.
Blessings,
Kay

---

Please help spread the word of peace full home® and invite your friends to our peace-filled conversations.
Blog: peacefullhome.com
Twitter: @kaymclane
Instagram: @peace_full_home
Facebook: facebook.com/kayspeacefullhome

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Kay McLane and Peace Full Home.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.