My whole life, I’ve been a “get it over with” kind of person.  That soggy coleslaw my parents put on the plate? Gulp it down first and get it over with.  That homework that I knew I was gonna fail? Scribble down anything and get it over with. That job of cleaning the toilets?  Breathe through the mouth and get it over with. 

I spend a lot of my days just getting things over with.  Even the days I’m not working. On Sunday, I had a free day with the kids.  They wanted to go to the local pumpkin patch. I don’t mind the pumpkin patch, but there are some parts I historically just want to get over with. Namely, the corn silo: a giant silo with a bunch of feed corn at the bottom for kids to dig in. It’s a madhouse in there, and I always come home with corn in my underpants.

Begrudgingly, I sat down in the corn and prepared myself to hate every minute.  I thought about all the kernels I’d find in my nether regions later in the day. I thought about how annoyed I was at the kid’s parent who let him throw fistfuls of corn at my face. I thought about how unsanitary the whole place was and wondered if it was the same corn I sat in last year.

And then something just changed. 

A pulsing satisfaction coursed through my body. The corn felt like a massage.  I felt like I was being rubbed down, and I felt like stress was being lifted.  I was enjoying every minute of feeling my skin being pushed upon.  It was amazing.  The kids saw the shift in my face and couldn’t get over it.

We stayed in there for almost 30 minutes, reveling in my newfound discovery.  The children had to drag me out.

Reader, not every job can be done with joy.  But this week, I was reminded that not every job needs to be a damn chore.  Some of them may as well be approached with a little more lightness in the heart.  We can enjoy ourselves while we’re in the thick of things.  Being a hard ass isn’t gonna make the job any better anyway. 

Wishing you a week of surprises in the mundane.  See you next Monday. -Em