I did it. I tackled a big thing that I was dreading. And I DID GREAT!
Many of you know that I am a single mama of three. With that has come some challenges. I was pregnant when my ex moved out last spring and I was not able to do much. Thankfully many wonderful family members, friends, and neighbors helped out with the tasks I just could not do while pregnant.
One of those, was mowing. Thankfully my brother has always enjoyed mowing!
So, here I am now 33 and I have never mowed. It seemed that my grass grew a foot overnight recently and I was scrambling to figure out how to get my yard taken care of. I tried starting my temperamental lawn mower and couldn’t. While my brother was over one day I asked him to start it and I got through one small strip before it died. I was annoyed because I couldn’t get it taken care of but, IT WAS HEAVY! I told a few people that I need a super lightweight mower or I’d be mowing EVERY day of EVERY week to get it done. (I’ve never been very physically strong. I need to change that.)
I was given a new mower. I even went to the store and got help finding oil. (There IS specific oil for lawn mowers, fyi.) I filled that and checked the gas. Got all ready to mow. It wouldn’t start. So my Dad switched mowers with me to repair mine.
Well, the part was going to take a week and my grass just kept growing and growing. Someone was going to come help me and it didn’t work out. I joked that soon my kids would be ‘swimming’ around the backyard if it got much higher.
So one night I found a small window of time where the big kids could stay with baby and I told them I was just going to go ask a neighbor to start the mower so I could just start on the yard. But I didn’t…
BECAUSE I STARTED THE MOWER MYSELF!!
That is a big deal, folks. I’ve not been able to start them. I just couldn’t pull hard enough. I just couldn’t give up though and I did it.
Also, I mowed the ENTIRE yard. I had to start that thing probably twenty times – no joke- because it kept getting clogged up. But I did it!
I’m a self-conscious person and I hated going out there not knowing what I was doing, with so many neighbors. My neighborhood is awesome. I love the families around here. But I couldn’t shake the feeling. I got discouraged a lot in the beginning when I didn’t know exactly what I was doing with it stopping so much but I knew it needed taken care of and I KNEW MY KIDS WERE WATCHING.
I’m trying to teach them to not give up and quit easily. Because of that I just did it and pushed aside my silly feelings. It was helpful that one of my awesome neighbors came to tell me I was doing great towards the end and some others told me the next day how good it was.
THIS is the look of satisfaction from doing something else on my own.
I share this with you all because I want YOU to realize that YOU can do anything. Don’t give up. It may not be perfect the first time, but if you try your best, THAT IS WHAT MATTERS. While it’s great to have help from others, YOU DON’T ALWAYS NEED someone else. You’ve got this.
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