Today is Day 10, and Samsung-Service-Center- willing, the last day of hand washing dishes for me. The first night I found it calm and relaxing. Nobody bothered me. I was left to my own thoughts. I put on great music and lit a candle. The next few days weren’t too bad either. I got in the habit of waking up and as my coffee was brewing, doing up the dinner dishes from the night before. Then I got a little behind……and then I got a little resentful. It takes a lot of time to hand wash dishes. Way more time than just loading the dish washer. I found I had abandoned my earlier state of grace and scrubbing spaghetti sauce out of a pot no longer calmed my spirit.
But one of the coaching principles I teach is that whatever we resist we need the most. So I knew I NEEDED to be standing there hand washing dishes. And as soon as I surrendered, I got it. It was a time for me to slow down. My life has been busy lately. My hubby and I are taking off tomorrow for a glorious week alone in Belize. I’ve got lots to do before we leave. So washing the dishes was my chance to just be. To be with me. To be with my thoughts. To stand in the place of centeredness when nothing else was calling for my attention. (It’s amazing how kids, husband and even the canines scatter when there’s a sink of soapy water before you….)
So the next time something comes up that seems like it might be something you DON’T want to do, don’t resist. Surrender….and see what comes up for you. Amazing the therapeutic results of just scraping a little ketchup off a dinner plate – when you can allow yourself to just be there.