One of the home tasks that I never liked doing is clothes pressing. Only the thought of ironing a shirt would make me depressed. Therefore I was one of the most devoted customers for the laundry shop from our neighborhood …
One day I forgot to send the shirts for pressing and my husband had an early meeting …and no shirts; I did let him try doing it himself (he knows pressing is not my favorite morning thing) but I couldn’t sit back and let him walk out the door with three parallel stripes on each sleeve…So as a loving wife that I am I took charge and started pressing that shirt.
The most strange thing happened while doing this task…ironing his shirt I realized I am doing something for my love and acknowledging that gave me a completely new perspective towards this activity, once seen as a punishment …doing something for the one you love cannot be a punishment..why did I saw it like one?...maybe because I forgot to look beyond the shirt, beyond the material …like we all do so many times in our lives. Sometimes is enough to see the benefits coming from making a specific thing and usually when the benefits are affecting other people, it is amazing how the whole perception changes.
Immediately I remembered my mom ironing our clothes; it is one of the most beautiful memories I have from my childhood; she used to do it with so much patience and love that I used to love to sit next to her and watch her (or iron my own clothes with the plastic iron); she was emanating such a positive energy in the house and I would feel so safe and happy seeing my mom taking care of us. I want my children to feel that.
So now, I enjoy ironing from time to time (I will certainly share this new found pleasure with the laundry guy from time to time…no need to be selfish) and while I do, I think of my husband, my mom and all the people who showed me love through their actions during my life; an “unpleasant” activity became an enjoyable one, because of Love.
Ralu H
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