Living in a House Under Construction
Life is always under construction
It’s Saturday, 7:58am.
The morning sounds are light enough to wake me up for a moment. Just a pleasurable moment to realize that I can enjoy sleeping in today. The sparrows gently chirping outside lull me back to my beauty rest.
The perfect Saturday.
“DUG DUG DUG DUG DUG DUG DUG”
The loud jackhammer begins it’s morning routine. The angle grinders start droning around the house.
Bye Bye Sleeping Beauty
It’s been the neighborhood alarm clock for the past weeks, and my wife and I have the best seats to the show.
We’re living in a house under construction. We stay in a small room upstairs while the rest of the house is being remodeled.
It’s a pretty interesting setup.
One day they’re demolishing a concrete wall downstairs. The next day we hear them tearing down the old bathtub a few meters away from our room.
One peaceful Tuesday morning was shattered by horrifying sounds of ceiling boards being ripped off right below us with nothing but worn out wooden floor planks to separate us from the chaos of the construction below.
We know its safe here. The construction workers are keen on keeping us safe throughout the process, and they’ve been so good to us.
But I’d be lying if I said I’m perfectly fine living like this — being bombarded by a psychedelic-like barrage on our senses every morning just as we’re ready to take on the day.
The hopeful part is that we know this is only temporary. It’s just part of the process.
Why did we do it?
Why did we choose to stay here in all the mess?
To have some fun, of course.
We just got married. We bought an old house that needs fixing. Why pay rent when you’ve got a property?
We tell ourselves its an economical decision. It really is, but I think it’s also an existential one.
We’re always up for an adventure. This time, it’s an adventure within the four undefined corners of this half-demolished half-finished house we now call our home.
And if we can do this adventure while saving money and learning how to do construction work, since my wife and I are both engineers, then we’re really up for it.
Life is always under construction
The construction site is a messy place with unexpected things popping out here and there especially if you’re renovating a beautiful ugly house from the 1980s.
You have a plan on how to work but you constantly have to readjust based on the actual conditions on site.
The construction site is a metaphor for life. And we’re right in the thick of it.
Isn’t that where we all are?
We’ve got plans and goals. We have a loosely held roadmap of where we’re headed in life but we know that most likely, it’s going to change. That’s why it’s held loosely.
Let’s roll with the punches. Expect the unexpected.
Life is a process. Life is a construction site. Wherever you are, it’s all part of the process.
Remember this powerful quote from Rocky when his son was being a pussy:
“You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now if you know what you’re worth then go out and get what you’re worth.
But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You’re better than that!
I’m always gonna love you no matter what. No matter what happens. You’re my son and you’re my blood. You’re the best thing in my life. But until you start believing in yourself, ya ain’t gonna have a life. “
It’s been a great experience renovating this house. I’ve learned so much and have more insights to write about through this season in my life.
I’ll be writing more about this in following articles.
Until then, I’ll try to get more sleep while the jackhammers are gone.
