If  life is a house than I have choices as to how to build it, maintain it, and decorate it.

Whomever I choose to invite inside can either help me make it a beautiful place or they can help me make it a mess. I’ve noticed that either of those things can happen in record time, and that other times, I’m on auto pilot and by the time I “wake up” I’m in the midst of a shit show. Disaster clean up can be found in the Yellow Pages.

If life is a house than my loved ones will always find the front door open, have a room to stay in, and a warm meal to eat.  Should I be away – a key is under the mat.

Those are the people that make my house worth living in- who help me create beauty, conversations that matter, and times to remember. We might dance, sing, laugh and even cry together.  Occasionally we might fight or voice our frustrations to restore peace and harmony. These are the people that allow me to be me, and encourage me to be my best self.  Sometimes just sitting with each others company …. at home.

If life is a house then there will always be chores, and things to I must do, and investments I must make that go toward maintaining it.  Making it look good on the outside might mean raking the yard, painting, fixing the porch, and tending the garden. While inside, vacuuming, washing the floors, dusting and rearranging the furnishings once in a while might keep it looking and feeling like a lovely place to be.  I always have to be mindful of clutter, and purge my excess “belongings” every so often, and I have to realize I can’t always do everything by myself.  Reaching out to those people I love to help me every once in a while is just part of living there.

If life is a house than I’ve noticed that how I choose to spend my time and energy makes all the difference in the world.  If I invite guests over who don’t respect it’s charm and warmth and hospitality, then things start to deteriorate fast. Before long I notice I have an overgrown yard with old tires and a cast iron tub on my lawn, and inside there are dishes in the sink and laundry piles everywhere. The people I’d really love to get to know more or spend more time with stop coming by to visit.

If life is a house and I find as I look through the bedrooms that some guests are lingering who are not really helping me maintain the place, or doing their part then it’s up to me to consider the following:  I invited them in, and I can invite them out. It’s a choice.

There are somethings I’ve tried to repair in my house on my own only to find that I need a professional to help me make it structurally sound.  There have also been a couple of times in my life where I realize I have built the whole damn thing on quick sand. It’s necessary sometimes to just take an inventory – grab the valuables and just bulldoze the rest.

If life is a house, then renovation is always an option.  It’s MY house, so I get to choose how I build it.