Knock Things Down and Build Things Up

A dear friend of mine just signed the lease on a 1600 sq. ft. property with another set of rooms upstairs from it. His plan is to create a workspace and self-defense/work out center on the ground floor, and his office and shower space for clients on the second floor.  The former tenants left the property in decent shape but some of the walls need to be torn down, and others need to be patched and painted.  He’s hoping that the mold or some other worrisome, costly problem is not hiding underneath. 

Still, the worn and pitted wallpaper has to be stripped first and pock marked walls with old nail holes need to be filled in and smoothed.  Of course, he could just slap on the new paint and from a distance it will look fresh, clean and new.  But upon closer inspection the true underlying destruction will be quite apparent.  There are even some areas where a wall may be need to be torn away to clear out any mold, and make repairs.  Even if the wall appears fine, it still may need to be torn down to enlarge the space or new walls may have to be built to make larger areas more private.   

Sure, he could consider cutting some corners with repairs to save money and time but that’s not the way he operates.  He understands, on many levels that one needs to get to the core of the issue and work outwards.  Often times, in order to succeed you have to get to the bottom of things and work your way back up.  This is true in business and in life.

As we migrate through life, we can be worn down and beset with fatigue; filled with derision, regret, anger, frustration, heartbreak, sadness and/or loneliness.  We often put on a good front, trying to move past the darker emotions that pin us down as if we have a two ton boulder strapped to our backs.  Yes, we may find a way to smile or laugh; we can put on some make-up or get a haircut.  We could buy a new dress or suit or shoes; shop until we drop or eat until we burst. 

Even healthier options like hitting the gym may offer outward signs of wellness and vigor, giving the illusion that we’re fine.  But if we haven’t truly worked to breakdown those emotional boulders that we carry hidden underneath that thin veneer of wellness we portray to the world, then we are doomed to an eventual emotional breakdown that will be far more difficult to overcome; or we may never overcome it at all and the stress of it might even kill us. 

The only way to truly become free of that tremendous weight is to deal with the issue; address the core problem or problems; reach down deep past all that pain and grab ahold of that nasty nugget that’s the cause of all the things bearing its ugly weight on you and deal with it. Pick it apart. Dissect it.  Understand it. Acknowledge it. Then discard it. You don’t necessarily have to eradicate its memory entirely; that may not even be possible. 

Every now and then it may float up from the depths of your buried past and try to sucker punch you. If you’ve dealt with it properly, that punch will be akin to shooting a spit ball at the backside of a full grown grizzly; you’ll won’t even know it hit you or you’ll brush it off and pay it no mind. You can change how that memory affects you in your present day state, by breaking it down into its core component and leaving it alone to wither to nothingness. It will take time but if you don’t pick at it, it won’t fester, and it can’t hurt you anymore.

Just like you wouldn’t fear breaking a building down to the foundation in order to rebuild and create a truly resilient and beautiful home, don’t fear breaking down those personal problems so that you can build a resilient and beautiful soul. 

Let’s not be afraid to Knock things down and build things up.

<3 Always & Peace ∞

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