D is for Destruction

My first stab at home-ownership turned out to be the house I grew up in. My parents wanted to move and they made my husband and I an offer we couldn’t refuse. But before we moved in, it was a moral imperative that we do something about the lime green 1970s carpeting, matching fuzzy wallpaper and the hands-down, undisputed Uber-Champion of The Ugliest Bathroom in the Galaxy Contest.

A good friend of mine happened to be a contractor and I talked him into supervising our renovation since we knew as much about revamping a bathroom as we did about Space Plasma Physics. On the first day of our project, I was using a hammer and chisel to remove the individual pieces of the green and white mosaic floor tile when my friend (or should I say “Boss”?) interrupted me.

Boss: “What the hell are you doing?” Me: “Um….taking out the tile?” Boss: “Gimme that.”

Eyes wide, I gave him the hammer. With a disdainful look, he slammed the claw of the hammer into the floor, yanked backwards with a dusty flourish and messily removed about a 2 and a half square feet of tile. With an unmistakable glint of triumph in his eyes, he informed me, “That’s how you do it unless you want to be older than Methuselah when you finish. The drywall comes down the same way. I want all of this gone when I come back tomorrow. Now get to work.” And he left.

After my initial shock wore off, I followed his example with such maniacal gusto that I may have momentarily been possessed by Kali, the Goddess of Destruction. It was glorious! I felt powerful and free (and maybe a little dusty) and I realized in that moment that destroying the “bad” things in my life in order to replace them with “good” things could be just as liberating.

So, don’t be afraid to take a metaphoric crowbar to your negative self-talk to make way for positive affirmation. Get some allegorical TNT and blow that fudge covered Oreo cookie craving to smithereens so your body can have the Nutella and apple snack it deserves. Destruction can be a very powerful tool in the realization of your dreams by clearing out all the junk holding you back and replacing it with a clean slate on which to build the life you crave and the destiny you deserve. Sometimes we just need to light the fuse to catch the Spark.

Blogger’s Note: No fudge covered Oreos were harmed during the creation of this blog.