So… I have a cleaning woman. I have had one for years. She comes once a week and whirlwinds through the house, lifting the crap and the energy !
“Oh my God, but you’re not making that much money, how do you justify that expense ?”
My usual answer was … “But you know I run a B&B with my husband, the house is nearly 1000m², I can’t do that all by myself and work outside, and handle the kids, and do the books, and …”
Today I just answer… I’m OK sacrificing some other things to have a cleaning woman. She is very nice, I pay her a very decent salary, she needs the money desperately, she is very efficient, it’s a real game changer and I even feel like some rich sponsor to be able to hire someone…
I almost feel no guilt anymore.
I know that I am being judged by some people (i.e. my mother in law!! or some of my “friends”) but I don’t care.
I’m happy with the situation. Yeah me!
That of course was until last week …
Because last week I asked her if she would come a second time in the same week, to do some ironing for me … Again I run a B&B, so … lots of ironing …
I usually did it myself and I even considered myself quite capable at it, even good at it. I wouldn’t say I’m a genius of the ironing board … but I thought I was excellent at it. But there is a lot of it and I never seem to see the end of it.
So she said yes, I showed her the stuff … she only had about half an hour left of her time and the huge pile of things to iron screamed 2 or 3 hours to me …
Half an hour later, she passed by me while I was painting, said a smiling goodbye and left.
The day after that, I was supposed to prepare the rooms for the arriving guests, so I went in the room where the ironing board is.
Guess what ? EVERY SINGLE ITEM OF THE HUGE PILE WAS IRONED, and nicely done too…
WTF ?
So for ages now, I have done by myself something that I don’t really enjoy but that I am able to do … thinking I was good/efficient at it, when, in reality… I SUCK! I’m so slow I should be ashamed …
What conclusion do I draw of this experience ? Remember the post about the washing machine ?
Well, AGAIN,….
I DO NOT HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING BY MYSELF …EVEN IF I CAN …MOSTLY IF I SUCK AT IT !
It isn’t clever, it isn’t brave, it isn’t what a woman “should” be doing … It’s just plain stupid!
So please, please, please be more intelligent than me and ask for help, get help, pay for help, only work in your zone of genius !
Which I will, as much as I can, from now on!
Sending love, light and gratitude,
Isaya
PS: If you have no clue what a “zone of genius” is or where to find one, you might want to read Gay Hendricks’ The Big Leap
PPS: If you do know what a “zone of genius” is and what is mine exactly, do not hesitate to contact me ASAP !
Nice piece – but the letters on the comments don’t show on my machine!