When you hear a crash two hours before your alarm was scheduled, you take that as a sign to not just wonder, but investigate the cause.
Roger and I rushed Saturday to discover all the hanging clothes and bins on one side of the laundry room/closet, next to our bedroom, had succumbed to gravity when the nails couldn’t hold the weight anymore and ripped out of the wall. An hour earlier, I had walked by and seen the washer light indicating it was ready for a cleaning cycle, so I closed the door and started it. If not for that, the door could likely have broken off from the impact.
We counted our blessings, especially me, knowing that my nocturnal habits could have placed me in there at that moment when I would have wanted to accomplish SOMETHING while sleep eluded me. And we laughed at how it was HIS side that had collapsed under the tons of HIS shirts hanging there, after a day earlier I had highly recommended he pare down his T-shirt collection, many that hadn’t been worn in eons and he wanted on hangers, not folded elsewhere.
The momentary glow of knowing I was right evolved into working together to move clothes, bins and more out of the way to see the actual damage. Luckily the nails had come out cleanly and not left gaping holes in the drywall. We piled his shirts on my side of the bed because I was definitely not sleepy, but encouraged him to sleep longer because we had a closet catastrophe to deal with later.
I retired to my dad’s rocker recliner in the living room where I thought of moments where the walls had come crashing down so many times in life … seemingly hopeless challenges and losses, even the small stuff that gets exaggerated in your brain.
In this moment of reflection, I realized that like the closet, it’s not THE walls of life that come crashing down … it’s what we anchor or attach to those studs and drywall that can fall without warning. Our emotional and physical bodies can only hold so much … because we’re human. And when we throw on one more load to show we’re superhuman, that’s when we’re weakened from the excesses and SOMETHING will rip loose …
That “thing” can be our physical health from excessive wear and tear and simple lack of self-care … our mental health from constant external demands and garbage dumped on us by others … and what havoc we create within by doubting ourselves, our skills and gifts …
While considering closet wall repairs, I pondered what was hanging by a thread or inadequate nails to do the job of ME. What do I need to hold onto, let go of, or strengthen … so I can be a wall that continues to stand …
P.S. You’re human, too, so what’s yours?
Hey, drop me a line at [email protected] or leave a comment below. I’d love to speak to your group, organization or company about working our way through the pain and challenges of everyday life. You want straight talk? You got me!
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