Episode 112 - DIY

This week I’ve been doing a little DIY. There’s lots of things that I like about DIY. I like the actual making things and putting things together, because it’s essentially just grown-up Lego. I like the power tools because they make me feel like a power ranger or a ghost buster. Secretly I like it when things go wrong because then I have a puzzle to solve. I very much like enjoying the results of my labour at the end of the project. But most of all I enjoy taking something and making it my own. I like taking a space that I frequently inhabit and not only leaving my mark on it, but making it more suitable to me; whether that be by making it look and feel more appealing to me, or by (more importantly) making it more useful to me and more fitting for the way I live my life.

DIY can be a little bit addictive, the more you do, the more you want to do. It starts off with small vital improvements, but can quickly escalate into elaborate changes to whole rooms and soon you can find that there is no longer a room in the house that you’re happy with. This however is not what DIY is supposed to be about. It’s great to be able to improve what you have, but the potential of what could be should never take away from what currently is. Just because something could be made better does not mean that I should not appreciate what it currently is nor should it prevent me from enjoying it as it currently is.

In many ways my life is a bit of a DIY project. Whether it be the situation I find myself, the things that I spend my time doing, my attitudes, or even my very character; there is plenty that I can improve upon. It is actually a huge joy and privilege to be able to work on and improve these things and to know that the potential is there to do so. And do so I should. But this should never stop me enjoying or appreciating what I already have, and nor should I allow this room for improvement to make me look down upon myself or depreciate my own value, because you know what? Whilst we might all still be learning and growing, I have never yet met another human who wasn’t pretty awesome in their own right, and I should appreciate myself more. And I suspect that you probably should too, because I’m willing to bet that you’re already a pretty awesome person. I mean you’re reading my blog so that’s a pretty good start!..

Another thing about DIY, is that everyone has different tastes and different lifestyles. Just because one person likes things a certain way or finds certain things useful and beneficial doesn’t mean that same will be true for someone else. There are people in this life who will freely tell you what they would have done differently or even tell why what you have chosen to do is wrong. Sometimes this advice (unsolicited or otherwise) is actually very helpful and helps you to further improve what you have already done. More often though, the person offering advice is just airing their own desires forgetting who it is that you are, what it is you need and indeed who it is that this DIY is for! This too can be quite a lot like life. It can be easy to feel pressured into comprising the things you want or even who want to be to avoid criticism or even earn applaud. In fact, it can be incredibly hard to stand for what you want or believe in even when the consequence for not standing can be severe. I just pray that no matter what pressure may come against me, that I may always have the strength to stand.