For a happier, healthier home...Take a moment to ground yourself and gather your thoughts each day before entering your home.
At the end of a long, stressful day of duties and responsibilities, it can be really hard to disconnect from our work. The last thing our families want to deal with is our stress from the day – they are excited to spend time with us, looking forward to fun and enjoying one another. So how do we suddenly switch modes and leave it all behind when work is over?
Our families deserve a happy “us” and that means we have to train ourselves to leave a hard day behind us, allowing ourselves to focus on our families when we get home. I recently heard a story called “The Trouble Tree” that shared a great example of how we can make that happen:
“The Trouble Tree”
The carpenter who was hired to help a man restore an old farmhouse had just finished his first day on the job and everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong. First of all, on his way to work he had a flat tire that cost him an hour’s worth of pay, then his electric saw broke, and after work his old pickup truck refused to start.
His new boss volunteered to give him a lift home and the whole way to his house the carpenter sat in stone silence as he stared out his window. Yet on arriving, he invited his boss in for a few minutes to meet his family. As they walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands. When he opened the door, he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was one big smile as he hugged his two small children and kissed his wife.
Afterwards, the man walked his boss to his car to say thank you. Now on their way out of the house, the boss’ curiosity got the best of him so he had to ask the man about the tree on the front porch. He said, I noticed when you came up on the porch before going into your house you stopped and touched the tree, why?
“Oh, that’s my trouble tree,” he replied. “I know I can’t stop from having troubles out on the job, but one thing’s for sure – my troubles don’t belong in the house with my wife and children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again.”
“Funny thing is,” he smiled, “when I come out in the morning to pick ‘em up, they aren’t nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before.”
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Find a “Trouble Tree” to drop your problems off before you enter your home. Take a moment, close your eyes, take a deep breath, think of all the troubles clouding your mind, and leave them there. Think about all the positives in your life, breathe, put a smile on your face. Enter your home with a renewed, gentle spirit. (It doesn't have to be a tree. it can be a rock, bank, flowers, or even the side of your house) whatever you have will work. Practice this daily for 1 week, and notice the difference.
Much Love,
Tammy