Lessons of a Painted Shed Door

If you’ve been following along our Corkboards, you may recall a story of my backyard shed and the naughty racoons. You see, I recently moved into a 1980s home that has all the charm and the disasters of a 40-something year old unit. It had been partially renovated in the “looking good places” and in need of an internal colonoscopy (read: electrical + plumbing!). The shed however remains to be the cute “little house”, as the contractors like to call it, of the backyard. The little house had a door with creaky hinges, peeling paint and a wobbly door knob. So while the electrician was doing electrical things, I thought painting the shed door would be a fun “looking good upgrade.”

To make a very long story short, in order to remove 4 layers of paint from a most definitely 40-year-old door: 2 bottles of paint thinner and 8+ hours of industrial sanding/hand-busting-vibration later and it is nearly ready for a fresh coat of paint! A fresh coat of pink paint to match the newly painted front door – talk about looking goooood. Except, there was a special window on this shed door and with the final industrial sanding vibrations – the window shatters! 

I can’t help but laugh at myself and think: when are you going to “quit” Steph? A new door is but a phone call away and a fresh coat of paint will make this door hang-ready in less than a day. I also immediately make this a metaphor for life and 4 years of therapy equates to the 4 layers of paint and so on and so forth.

Until I get on my weekly Monday morning call with Cecily. I’m sharing this story with glee – how I just need to call the door shop to find a new freakin’ door – and she stops me dead in my sentence.

“Can I offer you a different perspective,” she calmly states. 

“Of course,” I reply with curiosity.

“Is this really all you’ve got? You’ve spent hours on the door, so why stop now? There will always be a time when things get hard and something breaks. Is your reaction to throw it all out so easily,” she asks with a heart of conviction, like a soldier for the door!

*gulp*

“I think you need to keep going. You need to find a new piece of glass and a new way to finish what you’ve started.”

*double gulp*

In the midst of a renovation that was meant to take 3 days and we are now going on day 37, these wise words were most definitely *not* what I wanted to hear. However, she stopped me so true in my tracks that I could not imagine another way than continuing to march on; to most definitely: Keep Going.

I share this story because we relate to one another through experiences that succeed, more often than experiences that don’t go to plan. And when I think about why we are in this business, it is about getting through tough moments. The Coaches and Consultants at The Corker Co are absolutely, unwavering in their commitment to Keep Going. Just when I thought I was here for the long game, I’ve been properly coached to not give up on the broken.

If you need an upgrade on your perspective – be it a renovation of your home, your brain or your heart, I can’t recommend this team enough!

With love + a paintbrush,
Steph