Love what you do.

You’ve likely heard the phrase: “Do what you love, love what you do.”  Well… I got to thinking about that phrase sometime back and thought: one can’t always do that.  And then I thought, maybe I feel like I can’t always do what I love [to do], but I can learn to love what I do (and change my whole outlook in the process).   And so there was a turning point in my journey.  One of many turning points. :o)

Lemme give you an example.  Just this morning, I came into the kitchen planning to unload/reload my dishwasher (and to check out the horrific noise it makes when it’s running) and, upon opening the door, immediately coming to mind was the thought that this dishwasher smells bad.  Smells awful, really.  So I emptied the dishwasher and took out the racks.  There was gummy-dirt in the crevices – what?!?!? This is a dishwasher — a stainless-steel interior that has multiple sprayers in it.  How could the rack’s crevices be dirty?  I took the racks out and put them in the bathtub and sprayed them down with cleaner.  I proceeded back to the offending dishwasher and began to dismantle the sprayer and the spinner deal.  I sprayed them with cleaner, too.  I scrubbed the gasket… gunk was in the gasket of the hinged part of the door.  Well, bleck.  And then I thought…. and thought…. and it dawned on me that I could love to do just about any job — because it struck me, I’m not necessarily doing these things because I love to do them specifically — I do them because I love who I do them for — I love to have things be taken care of — not just for myself, but for my family, I love for my family to have their things properly cared for and I want my husband’s home to be a blessing to him.  So, essentially, I do what I love and I love what I do.

Maybe a couple of you remember when I needed an attitude adjustment regarding laundry a few years ago (yes, it’s been that long).  My husband asked me to just do it as a service to our family, not murmuring, not reminding them they were told to put the laundry in the hamper, not counting the numerous items — just cheerfully do the laundry.  And from that moment, I have sought to do it that way.  And I marvel at how a simple decision completely changes one’s outlook (and thinking!).  You see, I decided that’s exactly what I’d do.  And I did… and do.  And I type this to the hum and the click, click, clicking of rivets and snaps whirling around in the dryer.  I do a lot of laundry every day, so I get a lot of time to consider the decisions I make.

On any given day, I fetch things for others, pray and sing songs, I mend things, wash and iron, pray and carry sorrows, plant and dig up, listen and advise, fill cracks, pick up shatters, pray and dream dreams, clean up  messes, make  bigger ones and clean them all up again.  I’m home.  I do what I love and love what I do.

A few minutes ago, I looked up on the “white-board” to see a freshly written note: “We love our mom…. WLOM”  And I thought: this is why I do what I love.  This is why I love what I do.