Do you know that feeling when you’ve tried everything you possibly can and it’s all just been a waste? We’ve been living in a half-done house now for quite some time with small fits and starts of activity and lots of time spent keeping up with the rest of life. A few years back we already had 2 children under 3 years and were about 12 weeks shy of making it the trifecta when we decided it was time to tackle our bedroom for a full on make over – move a wall here, move a door there, plaster and paint the whole thing. Should be easy enough right? Well as the saying goes, the best-laid plans didn’t quite work out the way I’d thought.
Turns out old houses don’t give you the straightest lines to work with, and with my plastering ability at about 2nd year apprentice level making the warped appear straight was not in my skill set. And having your 8-month pregnant wife on a ladder painting is no picture of marital bliss! Now I don’t know why I thought I could do as well as someone with years of experience, maybe I thought I could have got it done cheaper or quicker but I can assure you I got neither and would have been better off all along to just call a trustworthy builder.
I’m sure plenty of you reading this are shaking your head with the wisdom of knowing better than to try something like this on your house or your car, but how many of us do this with our bodies? How many of you are getting around with a knee or back brace you picked up from the chemist all the while still limping, still suffering, still frustrated that your life and your body isn’t what you want it to be? How many of you have given up gardening, bowls or golf waiting for things to settle down on their own only to find its getting worse? Now you may have tried going to your GP, but the reality is their specialty generally is not in your rehabilitation. You could go to the gym, do a yoga class or even (heaven forbid) get onto Google, but this is no better than me and my DIY plastering. There’s going to be a lot of sweat, a lot of agonizing effort for possibly very little reward. You might be lucky enough to end up with something that shows a bit of promise but sooner or later those cracks will appear and you’ll wish you got the right help from the start.