In the still of the night I heard a faint drip. I wrote it off to the ice cube maker doing its magic, but then I remembered: I don’t own an ice cube maker.
The next morning I reluctantly followed the sound. It drew me to the basement, and then (eww!) the crawlspace. It was there in the dark void I spied the drip. A holiday weekend meant no access to a handyman: it was up to me to fix the leak.
At first I felt like crying. I felt alone and afraid of mud, creepy crawlers or worse a bigger leak!
My life’s work is dealing with this sort of situation, not leaks, but fear and conflict. As I trembled, I reminded myself of my methodology, Spiral Impact – the Power to Get It Done with Grace. My ‘It‘ was fixing this leak. Could I do this with grace?!
I contorted myself through a 2’ x 3’ opening to land on a couple of loose boards which formed a bridge over a dry moat. I kept breathing, determined to be the suburban Indiana Jones .
Upon closer inspection of the drip, I realized I needed more knowledge. It was off to the hardware store. I talked through the art of cutting copper piping and valve selection with Mr. Mike of Ace Hardware. I bought a few supplies, then ventured back into the crawlspace. Long story short, I had to make a total of 3 trips to Mr. Mike’s.
As I fixed one issue another appeared. You can probably relate.
I kept breathing and stayed present with the challenge.
Needless to say, when I finally turned the water back on and nothing leaked, I felt a huge sense of accomplishment. It even looked good - and I didn’t have to use duct tape!
So what?
That weekend project reinforced to me the power of Spiral Impacting. I felt stuck; yet, I entered into the situation seeking new knowledge, asking for support, clarifying my intention…and most of all staying centered.
I was able to move through my fear to get it done with grace.
How about you? Are you feeling stuck or fearful in an area of your life?
