Intention v. Motivation

Our house is for sale. I don't know if I ever mentioned it before, but the place we're renting is on the market, which means we need to evacuate for showings and open houses. In exchange for our cooperation, we are paying a reduced monthly rent. The real estate office has been good about giving notice 24 hours in advance, and we have always been able to accomodate them. On Sunday morning, however, the listing agent called to say there was an open house scheduled. . . for that afternoon. We had about four hours to clean and get out of the way.

It was an inconvenience for us because of the short warning, but we were planning to be out of the house during that time anyway. The only thing that really changed was that we spent our morning cleaning instead of lazing around. In a way, I was glad that we were forced to do something (cleaning) that we should have done in any case.

J and I both like being in an orderly house, and we both have good intentions when it comes to picking up after ourselves, but we also both have a tendency toward sloppiness. The imminent arrival of visitors is a great motivator to prod us to action, especially when it's this hot and sticky and we don't feel like doing anything at all. Sometimes life is the same way: we resist taking action until we are forced into it, and then we are glad for the change that results, even if we resent the catalyst. Be thankful for interruptions in your routine. They may turn out for your own good.

Categories: life