The Domino Effect

The White Stripes have a song called "Little Room" that I've been thinking about lately.  The lyrics are:

Well you're in your little room

and you're working on something good

but if it's really good

you're gonna need a bigger room

and when you're in the bigger room

you might not know what to do

you might have to think of

how you got started 

sitting in your little room

This song represents my life in general right now.  We had water damage in the house so we had to have some restoration efforts.  But it's not as simple as that.  As and example, I'll describe the saga of our cabinets.  We needed to replace half of our kitchen cabinets and were lucky to find matches.  But to replace the cabinets we had to rethink them.  Our refrigerator is about 15 years old and has a freezer on top of the refrigerator.  Most refrigerators sold now are side by side doors.  When placing our pantry cabinet, we had to take into effect the reality that one day we would own a side by side refrigerator which would have banged into the pantry cabinet.  So we had to move the pantry.  And while we were moving the pantry, we could add some more cabinets.  More counter space!  More cabinet space!  Great, but then we had to decide how many drawers we wanted, what the knobs should look like.  Do we want new knobs on the old cabinets or just leave them clashing?  On and on.

We got the cabinets installed, but they are unfinished.  Then comes the next round of questions.  What color do we paint the cabinets?  I wanted light blue but was wisely advised by Home Depot to go with cream and save light blue for the walls.  Why yes, the walls do need a new paint job!  So now we have a paint job to do.  We started making progress on that and then our top cabinets started pulling away from the wall.  So now the new cabinets have to be repaired.  

We have learned in the last few months that home improvement never ends.  It almost makes you want to throw up your hands and move to a new house but then we would have to start over!  What a terrible idea, not to mention one that is no realm of possibility.  We love our house, but we hate this never-ending home improvement hamster wheel that we are caught in.  We see no escaping.  I know that once we get in the floors and once the kitchen is painted, we'll start looking at other walls and realize they need painting, too.  

Housework is the same way.  Scrub a toilet and then notice you need to mop.  Mop and then notice you need to dust.  Dust and then notice the house is cluttered and needs organizing.

Raising children is the same way.  Teach them one thing well and then realize a concept/life-skill that you forgot.  Teach them that one and then the next one and the next one and the next.

Healthy living is another.  A week ago, ran for the first time in about two years.  I didn't get to the end of the block, so the next day I tried again.  The next morning I succeeded in going further, but not far enough, so I tried again.  I was feeling so good about working out that I decided to eat a little healthier.  Once salad led to another and another and then I didn't even order a pizza once this week!

It's the domino effect.  One thing leads to another to another and to another.  If you think you've reached the last domino, you are wrong.  There's always another after it.  But that's life.  I believe that life is not the destination of perfection and reaching the final domino.  That is impossible.  Life is what happens between the dominos.  Life is the reach for the next domino, knowing that there is no end.  Life is putting up your hand to stop the dominos to catch a breath before you immerse yourself in the never-ending labyrinth of life again.

Since I have accepted this fact of life, life is a little easier.  I know I will never, ever, finish the laundry unless my family becomes nudists, so it's okay to take a break to go to the zoo.  I know that I will never teach the kids everything they need to know in life, so it's okay to watch half an hour of TV.  The house won't paint itself, but the pool is open.  

It's officially summer now at the Boyette house and I can't wait to see what dominos will fall next and which ones we can stop in order to play.