“Run the dishwasher twice.” Or even three times. I saw this in an article yesterday and loved it. The article was about mental health. A woman shared that she was struggling and didn’t know what to share with her therapist that day. I never have that challenge. But I get it. Oh do I get it. Sometimes everything is SO much that you don’t even know where to start. What to say. What to even admit out loud. It is just all too much.
And now Dave Matthews is singing in my head, “Too much to say. Too much to say.” And the song’s lyrics are so uncanny. Which brings me right back to the article. There is an unspoken rule that we should talk about the weather sometimes, right? When we have too much to say?
When our feelings are too heavy? Well in the article, the therapist asked the woman, loosely, what is the one thing on your mind weighing you down? She was afraid, embarrassed to admit that it was the dishes. How she always had to scrub them before washing them because the dishwasher didn’t work well.
“Run the dishwasher twice,” the therapist replied. The freedom. The lightness. The weight lifted. “Who says you can’t do that? Whose rule is it anyway?”
Sometimes you have to do what you need to do to feel good. My life is hard right now. I’m trying to not go there because I know people don’t want to read heavy stuff every day. I mean, I don’t want to read heavy stuff every day. I’d rather talk about the weather every day, like people say we are supposed to when we don’t feel great. And trust me, I get it. I’d rather report that every day is sunny and gorgeous and oh my god, it is just WONDERFUL. But right now, my life is more gray than orange.
So I’m trying to figure out what rules I want to follow and not follow to feel good. Which is why I loved this article. The weight lifted that came with the simple solution. –> –> –> The lovely defiance in it. It reminded me of the day I said to myself, “WEAR the darn jeans that are a size bigger!” So many people tell you not to keep jeans that are a size up. You know, the jeans that “used to fit” before you lost a little weight.
I wholeheartedly disa-friggin-gree. There is nothing worse than starting the day with pants that feel tight. Nothing worse.
And that feeling leads to a domino effect of blech feelings. Start the day feeling as confident as possible. Wear clothes that feel good. I have jeans in 3 sizes. And I’m grateful for all 3 sizes. Life is like a box of chocolates? You never know what you’re gonna get?
Well my hips and my body’s ability to retain water? I never know what I’m gonna get. I want to feel good in my body, in my day. I’ll run the dishwasher twice if I need to. I’ll keep backup jeans.
And I will keep posting content that doesn’t follow rules. Tell us all…lets get a nice little chit chat going… –> What is one rule that everyone says you “should” follow that you decided, “Eh, yeah, not so much.” Do tell! Give us all inspiration and help us feel a bit lighter today. Sending warmth,
xoxo, Sheila
🧡 The Orange Rhino