Since giving away everything, I currently own 6 shirts, 2 pairs of jeans, 3 pairs of shorts and a handful of other clothing.
Yesterday I was down to my last clean set of clothes. And faced with my usually dreaded act of needing to do laundry.
But this time was different. It wasn’t a chore. It wasn’t annoying.
It was enjoyable.
Yes, you heard that correctly. Doing laundry was enjoyable.
Why was this?
This is tough to answer. And coming from a guy who used to pay a lot of money weekly to have the laundry done professionally, I’ve put a lot of thought into why I was happy to do laundry.
My conclusion?
Doing laundry greatly improved my current scenario.
Normally, I’d have an entire closet of backup clothing. And laundry was just another one of those things I needed to do.
But now that I have no other clothing options to fall back on. I have two choices:
1) Wear dirty clothes.
2) Clean them.
Therefore, cleaning the clothes created a sense of well-being. A sense that I was doing something to better my life.
Stop and Smell the Roses
It seems that in our hectic lives, many aspects of what we do are done without thought. In other words, we do stuff because we have to.
But why?
Have you ever asked yourself that? I’d imagine not enough.
As time goes by, some of the small things that become routine lose meaning.
However, these small things are often some of the most meaningful things we do in life. Examples include:
- Making your kid lunch. (You’re improving the welfare of a child)
- Mowing your lawn. (You’re improving the appearance of your yard)
- Driving your spouse to work. (You’re improving the success of a loved one)
- Cleaning your bathroom. (You’re improving the cleanliness of your home)
Most everything you do improves your life and the lives of others around you.
So while you may see routine, mundane rituals as a boring necessity. Think about why you are doing them. And about the outcome the task creates.
Ultimately, with constant reminders of the benefits behind your chores, you’ll begin to greatly appreciate the small things of life.
Good luck!
