Working hard at not working

I couldn't put it off any longer. If I didn't get a coat of stain and sealer on the deck, I was going to end up having to replace it. It annoyed me that I needed to find time to do it. I'm far too busy with important stuff. (My wife is rolling her eyes.)

I had the business to think about and long days there left me with little desire to spend time painting. So, I made up my mind that I was going to get this done.....fast. I was going to use a roller instead of a brush as I thought it would go much quicker.

I got started with the roller and all seemed to be going well.....except that the uneven nature of the semi-warped boards made it impossible for the stain to get in some spots. I ended up having to use a brush to hit the spots I missed. Frustrated, I quit for the afternoon with more than two-thirds of the deck yet to be stained.

About a week later, still frustrated with not having this stupid project complete, I saw on one the containers of stain that it can be applied with a sprayer. I have a sprayer!! "Sweet", I thought. "I'll have this done in no time!"

Feeling confident, I grabbed the sprayer and filled it with paint. As I started to spray the boards, I noticed that the stain wasn't going on evenly. 'No big deal", I thought. "I'll just brush out the uneven spots.

Suddenly, I heard the voice of my grandfather saying. "You sure are working hard at not working." ( I lost my grandfather earlier in the year and it's amazing how seemingly little things like this pop into my head.)

Laughing to myself, I grabbed the brush and got it done in half the time it would have taken me to do it the "easy way".

How often in life do we work harder and trying not to work? Maybe if we spent less time looking for the easy way instead of the right way, we'd all be better off...



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