Remember, you can do anything you set your mind to but it takes action, perseverance, and facing your fears. — Gillian Anderson, American-British actress (1968-)
In your hands lies the future of your world and the fulfilment of the best qualities of your own spirit. — Robert Kennedy, American politician (1925-1968)
Things seemed to have calmed down some since the thunderstorm warnings. We picked up a number of limbs, leaves and sticks so that everything is back to normal. At least as normal as normal can be. Sometimes I wonder if there is any such thing as normal. In the past few years nothing has been normal. I’m trying to write this column but find myself distracted while I’m looking out the window toward the garage. Sam has been there for hours lying on his back with his arms and knees up in the air. In yoga we called that position the “dead bug” position and that’s exactly what it looks like. He’s been working on the lawnmower for hours, determined to get it all worked out. It’s 88 degrees in the shade, and I’m wondering if he should even be fooling with the lawnmower at all. Sam’s a great handyman and will manage to fix the lawnmower to his satisfaction because he won’t give up.
I continued to watch through the window and Sam continued to work at fixing the lawnmower when a quote ran through my head. Alabama Muscle Shoals recording studio is our undeniable favorite documentary. If you haven’t watched it, do. At least Google it. I can’t count how many times we’ve watched the DVD so that I can probably repeat every line. Rick Hall was the determined, driven, producer of almost all the music we listened to from 1969 to 1985. Singer Candi Staton once said, “Rick Hall knows what he wants and he’s going to get it. If you have to do it a hundred times, Rick’s going to get what he wants.”
Sometimes when you know someone well, you know what they are going to do. I looked up and there was Sam sitting in the seat of the lawnmower, cranking it up, and driving it back to the shed where it stays. Sam knows what he wants his lawnmower to do, and he’s going to get it done if he has to do it a hundred times in a hundred-degree temperature in the dead bug position and it’s not going to wait until tomorrow or the next day. Sam’s going to get what he wants when it comes to working on something he wants to get done. For that I am very grateful.
Thinking about Sam’s talents and abilities makes me wonder what I’d consider to be my own talents and abilities. Everyone has their own talents and abilities. You might want to think about what yours might be and embrace them. I make sure Sam has a walk-in closet full of clean, pressed, organized clothing and shelves of shoes. All the rooms are neat and reasonably clean. The laundry is done. Groceries are purchased. There’s food in the pantry, refrigerator, and freezer. I’m not a great cook but the meals are healthy and tasteful. Household accounting is done. I’d like to think homemaking skills are a talent. It is said, “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.”
Shannon Bardwell is a writer living quietly in the Prairie. Email reaches her at [email protected].
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