Getting High on Recovery

Have you let your heart, your ideas or your relationships collect dust?

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A few weeks ago, I helped a crew of family and friends de-clutter a part of my parent’s back yard. We carried load after load of wood, concrete, old tires and wire. It struck me that every item was a project never came to life. The items once held promise, but now they are nothing more than a destination of dust.

20 years of dust to be specific.

I told my brother about that, and he said you could write an entire country album off that one line: 20 Years of Dust. I checked, and no one has done it yet.

Everything we do carries promise along with pitfalls. One of the pitfalls that we get caught up into is that we may be nothing more than a carrier of dust.

Dust is not a sign of health. Dust chokes. Dust grinds our gears to a halt. Dust can be a health hazard. Dust is part of the debris that collects after days, months and years of misuse.

An item once meant to be a part of a better life becomes nothing more than a reminder of our unfulfilled intentions. Each item tells a story of what could happen if we pick it up and reuse it, but dust muffles the cries.

My parents back yard told the story of so many projects that were meant to happen but couldn’t. Doors meant to swing on a hinge that now did a lonely lean against a quiet corner of the fence. Tools designed to create hang expectantly, layered with dust. Wood that still smells fresh now waits for loving hands.

Dust covers our dreams.

Sometimes the dust gathers because of neglect, but not always. Sometimes we are genuinely busy or we have taken on too much. Other times, new passions take us in directions that result in ever deepening dust.

However it happens, dust builds layer after layer. In our sheds, our hearts and our minds. Dust can hit our relationships the same way that it sneaks into our backyards.

Dust is unkind to our relationships. At first, it can feel like a warm blanket, but it slowly chokes us. I notice the dust in the distance, when I forget the little things, when I haven’t seen people I care for, and when I neglect to spend time with my wife or my children.

Your dust might look a little different. I don’t know, but I doubt that your dust is made of angel dust or pixie dust. Dust is real and it is unfriendly.

But dust also tells a story of muffled dreams and wishes from a different day.

Have you let your heart, your ideas or your relationships collect dust?

I won’t give you five points to change or six to reinvigorate yourself. Just one is necessary.

• GET UP. Because dust falls. When it falls, the shackles fall off. Then get to it. Take the time to love, to use your hands, to hold. I don’t care whether you need to re-love a neglected project or a neglected relationship. The process is the same. Now is the time and you are ready. That is, unless you like the dust.

Relationships thrive with attention and they choke when we rob them of time, love, care and attention. Get to it, because you are worth it and the dust is flying.

If you like this piece, you will also like The Best Relationships are Dusty And Do You Know The Four Keys to Relationship Resilience?

I write articles about wellness, leadership, parenting and personal growth. My hope is to deliver the best content I can to inspire, to inform and to entertain.

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Photo by Ingo