don't Let The Old Stand In The Way Of Something New

​When I was in my 20s, I helped build houses. I mainly did grunt work, but even so, there was something magical about watching a hole in the dirt become something beautiful that a family couldn't wait to move in to.

In contrast, I also got to participate in tearing down old buildings from time to time. It was often necessary to create space for something new. Necessary or not, though, tearing down the old never felt as magical as building the new.

I should probably think more about that when it comes to my life. Too many days I wake up and head to the construction site where I'm building something brand new - something magical - something I'm excited about - only to find myself drawn back to tearing down the old.

The old demons.

The old relationships.

The old missed opportunities - does anything suck us into demolition projects more than those old regrets?

There's something I discovered about tearing down old buildings when I worked in construction. That work could get so dirty and nasty that no matter how beautiful the future house was you were making space for, you could quickly lose sight of that beauty and any eagerness to pursue it inside all that dust and debris.

In construction there often wasn't a choice. Sometimes the old just had to be cleared before building something new. An unavoidable pre-requisite. The good thing was, though, once it was cleared, it was gone. It could never take away from my energy for the new project again.

Life isn't that easy for me some days. I keep going back to the old even though the space is already cleared for the new.

I keep going back...

That's a choice. Because every day in life is a clean slate of sorts. A decision. Show up to the lot where I am going to build something new, or return to the place I've spent years trying unsuccessfully to tear down the old.

Which will it be?

There will always be some need to work on the old. But if we're not careful, we can get to a place in life where we realize we've spent our whole life tearing down the old, and never once showing up to build the life someone can't wait to move into.

In construction, it was nice to have a boss who said, "okay gang, it's time to build something new. Let's do it."

In life, we are our own boss. And we aren't always as generous in giving ourselves chances to build something new.

This morning I want to remind you. YOU are handing out your work orders to you today. And it's time to consider a little more deeply: Show up to the lot where you can build something new, or return to that lot one more time to try and tear down the old?

There could be something more beautiful than you can imagine out there for you. But it's possible you haven't experienced it yet because you've been showing up to the wrong lot.