I often self-inflict "honey-do's." A "honey do" is something your significant other asks you to do. "Honey, will you do something for me?" It's usually not a good thing.
Most men avoid these activities like the plague. They seem too much like chores.
But I like getting things done, so I started the year puttering around the house.
Dictionary.com defines Putter: To waste (time) in idling: puttered away the hours in the garden.
But is time in the garden really wasted? No.
I cleaned a few things, oiled a few things, and then tried to fix a lamp. I needed some pliers, but I couldn't get to my workbench: too much clutter in the garage. Four hours later, after much puttering, the garage was beautiful, and I had my pliers.
Nobody nagged me. I just had fun: classic tunes and time in the garage. Sweet.
What's my secret to enjoying household chores? In part, it's because of two of my affirmations, my self-made sweet lies:
My house and cars are well maintained and cared for.
That's a nice affirmation and works well, but it's a bit vague. Another affirmation makes is more specific:
I enjoy spending a half a day a week on household and car chores.
Chores? Puttering? Semantics or setting myself up for success by self-managing my habits via affirmations. Too simple? Well, I guess I'm just a simple guy!
Tomorrow, just for fun, I'll probably cut my roses back to stubs.
Did you cut the roses? That makes me sad, especially since they bloom in the winter for you!
ReplyDeleteAlso - just looking at those arthropoda makes me want to HURL. There was a gigantic red one on my wall when I very first moved into my very first apartment - a welcome wagon of sorts. I just barely survived.
Saphron,
ReplyDeleteIt does seem sad to cut the roses, which I didn't do, yet. (I vacuumed out my cars instead.) Since roses grow year-round here, they need to be trimmed back to foot-long stubs and stripped of leaves. This stimulates healthy growth, including blooms!
Those "arthropoda" should be clicked on, not avoided. (They are in fact cacti growing along the ground.) I thought they looked like mean snakes, that's why I photographed them. My pictures "punked" you.
I guess it goes to show, you see what you think you see.