Strange Days Indeed!
Now I know there are a lot of ladies out there who say men never grow up and I tend to agree with them. In my instance I have perpetually felt around the 16 - 18 mark. I can remember growing up and being terrified of the prospect of being without my parents. The terror of having to make decisions for myself was overwhelming at times. But I reached 19 and couldn't wait to move out. Got married at 21 for the first time and joined the Army at 27.
I've now separated from my second wife and still feel just as terrified about making it on my own. Funny how the worm turns. I did have a win yesterday though.
I was out doing the garden in my new house that had gotten a little over grown. I exposed the water meter to allow the meter readers to find it easily and cut back various shrubs and and Rosemary plants that resembled triffids. And yesterday as I was throwing garden rubbish in the skip (a Large 3 -4 cubic metre bin) I heard the water meter ticking away madly. I had also noticed a small puddle in the garden that was growing larger by the moment. I checked it out and found the main pipe to the house had a crack in it and a small gum tree was the problem. Some rocket scientist had planted it right on top of the mains pipe (a 20mm PVC pipe) and the roots had twisted it and cracked the pipe.
My brain went into calamity mode, my heart sank and I rang a plumber to see what it would cost to get him out. He of course talked up the problem saying it would be very costly and he would have to re-route the pipe blah blah. I had visions of this plumbing bandit standing in my front yard ready to charge me a minimum of a $1000.00 and was stung into action.
I thought f*** you and grabbed my old army entrenching tool and set to work exposing the pipe and cutting tree roots. Thankfully the tree was young so it was just a matter of cutting the main roots and freeing the pipe. I bolted down to my local hardware store Bunnings and purchased a $5.00 join and installed that. Problem fixed. The hardest part was digging out the tree. So what seemed like a disaster was turned into victory and only cost me my time, effort, petrol and $5.00 for the pipe join.
My back is killing me (pinched nerve roots in my L5) but the sense of satisfaction at tackling what seemed to be an insurmountable problem is worth it. Now if some one wants to come over and help me chop up that bloody tree please feel free. LOL.
I hope if you take the time to read this you will not only get a laugh but realise like I did that if you tackle a problem head on and face your demons you win all round.
Now if only I can apply the above to my emotional life I will be set. I think I'm getting there though but ever do I feel fragile underneath and the tears close to the surface. Some days I feel ecstatic and others totally miserable. Today is a day where I'm just happy. I had the victory of the averted plumbing disaster fresh in my mind when I woke up. I got to watch Don Redondo the maniac kitten go berserk in my garden and laughed wholeheartedly at his antics. Living in the moment is such a blessing yet we forget how easy it is to do when we are weighed down by the weight of our issues and problems.
I also have realised I have so many options and choices available to me. I guess that is the beauty of having a decent chunk of equity in a house and a steady income. When I look around and see so many other people so much worse off than me on a material level, it makes me count my blessings.
I've now separated from my second wife and still feel just as terrified about making it on my own. Funny how the worm turns. I did have a win yesterday though.
I was out doing the garden in my new house that had gotten a little over grown. I exposed the water meter to allow the meter readers to find it easily and cut back various shrubs and and Rosemary plants that resembled triffids. And yesterday as I was throwing garden rubbish in the skip (a Large 3 -4 cubic metre bin) I heard the water meter ticking away madly. I had also noticed a small puddle in the garden that was growing larger by the moment. I checked it out and found the main pipe to the house had a crack in it and a small gum tree was the problem. Some rocket scientist had planted it right on top of the mains pipe (a 20mm PVC pipe) and the roots had twisted it and cracked the pipe.
My brain went into calamity mode, my heart sank and I rang a plumber to see what it would cost to get him out. He of course talked up the problem saying it would be very costly and he would have to re-route the pipe blah blah. I had visions of this plumbing bandit standing in my front yard ready to charge me a minimum of a $1000.00 and was stung into action.
I thought f*** you and grabbed my old army entrenching tool and set to work exposing the pipe and cutting tree roots. Thankfully the tree was young so it was just a matter of cutting the main roots and freeing the pipe. I bolted down to my local hardware store Bunnings and purchased a $5.00 join and installed that. Problem fixed. The hardest part was digging out the tree. So what seemed like a disaster was turned into victory and only cost me my time, effort, petrol and $5.00 for the pipe join.
My back is killing me (pinched nerve roots in my L5) but the sense of satisfaction at tackling what seemed to be an insurmountable problem is worth it. Now if some one wants to come over and help me chop up that bloody tree please feel free. LOL.
I hope if you take the time to read this you will not only get a laugh but realise like I did that if you tackle a problem head on and face your demons you win all round.
Now if only I can apply the above to my emotional life I will be set. I think I'm getting there though but ever do I feel fragile underneath and the tears close to the surface. Some days I feel ecstatic and others totally miserable. Today is a day where I'm just happy. I had the victory of the averted plumbing disaster fresh in my mind when I woke up. I got to watch Don Redondo the maniac kitten go berserk in my garden and laughed wholeheartedly at his antics. Living in the moment is such a blessing yet we forget how easy it is to do when we are weighed down by the weight of our issues and problems.
I also have realised I have so many options and choices available to me. I guess that is the beauty of having a decent chunk of equity in a house and a steady income. When I look around and see so many other people so much worse off than me on a material level, it makes me count my blessings.