Roofer replacing tile on roof leads to mindfulness practice.
When the roofers began to replace our entire roof, they said it would take three to five days to complete. Of course, it could take a bit longer if they were to find more that had to be done. And find more seemed to be their motto. Three to five days stretched into six weeks!
So there were many days that I had to deal with all of the noises (and everything else) that comes along with construction while mostly working from home. All while trying to comfort a client, be in a meeting, or record a video.
There were many moments of mindlessness. Bemoaning my fate of not being able to do what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it. Cursing the piercing saws, pounding hammers, and chattery (Yep, that’s a word'; I just looked it up!) roofers. Feeling frustrated at the seemingly incessant interruptions to my day.
But, after some time I would bring myself back to practicing mindfulness. Because if I’m going to preach it I better dang well practice it. Even when I don’t want to. I listened to the noises I’d previously been judging without judgment. I smelled construction smells. I felt the nail that almost went into my foot through my shoe as I pulled it out. I engaged fully in conversations with the roofers, even practicing my Spanish.
This is me (but not really me) after practicing mindfulness.
And what would inevitably happen was that my irritation faded away. The noises also faded (slightly) into the background and I would warn my clients and colleagues ahead of time that today might be a loud day. I remembered to wear shoes whenever I left the house. I enjoyed my conversations with these jolly roofers, especially that they spoke to me in Spanish when I don’t often get to practice it with real people. I felt grateful that this is my “problem.” That I’m able to have a roof over my head and have people fix it when it needs to be fixed (Because I sure as heck can’t do that!). I planned my days better so that as much as possible I could do certain activities when they weren’t hammering. I got creative with other ways of dealing with work when I couldn’t plan around it (Including filming a video while they were hammering about exactly what I’m writing here.). As a result I felt more relaxed, happier, and productive.
Life isn’t always ideal. Things don’t always go the way we want them to. We get interrupted. But when we’re able to bring ourselves back to that present moment and experience it exactly as it is, we accept it and in that acceptance are able to move forward. If we don’t we remain stuck. Either way the roofers are going to be there. Might as well make the best of it.