There’s a house up the street that’s stood vacant for the last 25 years.  I’m told that, on his deathbed, the owner made his wife swear she’d never sell it.  She didn’t.  Instead, she moved to Georgia with her daughter, leaving the house to rot.  The weeds grew up, raccoons were spotted inside.   My neighbors and I complained, and every so often, someone would show up to cut the grass.  But it was a sad little sight, and I figured that one day, the house would just be leveled.

Yeah, it looked kinda like this.  A hot mess.
Yeah, it looked kinda like this. A hot mess.

Last week, some trucks showed up.  They began cutting away the overgrown shrubs.  The roof was repaired, the shingles scrubbed.  I can see painters working away inside.  This poor little house that everyone had given up on is getting a second chance.  It makes me smile.

This Extreme Makeover is a reminder that its never too late for any of us to make some changes.  I have so many clients who feel that the ship has sailed, that their situation — whether its a job they hate or a relationship that’s dead — is a done deal.   Not true.  Maybe our brains have gotten used to covering the same tired tracks, but that’s essentially the only thing holding us back: the way we think about the situation.

I love this particular card:

th-1

The Hanged Man looks pretty pathetic; he seems trapped, but look again:  by hanging upside down, he can see his situation from a different perspective.  That’s why there’s that “glow” around his head — its an “aha” moment that comes from flipping something on its head.  Literally.

Everyone on our street had gotten it into our collective heads that no one would buy that broken down property. But someone else thought differently.  They saw possibility and began taking the steps to turn things around.  Each day, they come closer to realizing that vision.

What part of your life needs a makeover?  Now don’t go to that default impulse that you can’t change it:  take another look.  Then start clearing out the weeds.  If that raccoon camp up the street can be turned back into a home, anything is possible!

Cut down some weeds and see your situation differently.  Get to it!
Cut down some weeds and see your situation differently. Get to it!

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