Lessons

Thank you for all the calls, emails, facebook messages. God is so good and we are learning so much through all of this. As much as we wish we could have learned these lessons in a far less painful way we are grateful to be learning as much as we are.

I have compiled a list of lessons I have learned so far through this process:

Don’t put the cart in front of the horse. Take things one step at a time. Whenever I run into people they instantly begin to ask questions about the house and what is next for us. My only response is “I don’t know” and that is the truth. We are taking things one day at a time. Trusting and just trying to focus on what needs to happen on a daily basis, not what needs to happen 2 weeks from now. If I looked at what all needs to be accomplished within the next two weeks I would freak.

Be as A-type as you can. The older I get the more I realize the importance of being a-type. Have your things in order and all of your files up to date. You will need them one day.

Take what everyone thinks and explore the opposite. I’m not saying DO the opposite, I’m just saying, explore it. When you do you will learn a lot more than you would think.

Life goes on and so should you. Just because you are upset and your world has turned upside down does not mean others people’s have. Move on with life and get over feeling sorry for yourself because everyone else will and so should you.

Have good homeowners insurance. Mortgage companies require it but they don’t require you get a really good, actual cost value homeowners insurance policy. It is worth the extra couple of bucks a month to abundantly cover yourself, whoever tells you differently is an idiot.

Pray A LOT.

No drinking because the contractor might call when you are two beers deep and you need to be on you’re a-game when they call because Lord knows when you might hear from them again.

Nail people down. Getting contractors to tell you a specific time they will meet you is like nailing jell-o to the wall but it is the only way things get done.

No TV. TV is stressful and superfluous and does not provide any help toward the end goal. It wastes time and makes you feel lazy. (I might change my mind on this once everything calms down)

Sleep. You start to feel crazy if you don’t.

See a therapist. More on that later.

Shower. Nothing makes you feel more grungy and sorry for yourself than when you don’t shower. It feels good to be clean and everyone around you appreciates it.

Get to it. By the time you leave for work in the am you should have a list of small to-dos you need to accomplish that day.

Help someone.  It’s good for you to dig deep and look past your current issues. When you do you realize what you are dealing with is not that bad compared to what others are dealing with you begin to have a whole different outlook on things. It will humble you tremendously. 

Let people help. I always feel bad/selfish when people help me but it’s good to let people help and it lightens your load.

Walk. Being in a small temporary apartment with a 65 pound lab we have no choice but to walk. Once we get walking we are always glad we do.  

Get advice from more than one or two sources. It pays off I promise.