I put my garbage out this week on garbage day (Wednesday). Had the boys bring the garbage cans in at the end of the day. Assumed all was good...
But then yesterday, I walked into the garage and it smelled kind of funny. I opened the garbage can and to my surprise, there was the garbage...still in it!
Apparently, due to the holiday this week, garbage day was Thursday not Wednesday. Go figure.
This is the second time this has happened since I moved into the house in February.
In my apartment, we had a dumpster outside so I could just throw my garbage away any old time. None of this sticking to a schedule stuff to deal with.
I think life should be like that too.
We should be able to throw out our "garbage" any time we need to, not have to wait and do it on a set schedule.
After all, some of us have some pretty smelly garbage to take out...
We've got work stress and kid stress, and stress from trying to keep up with our friends and neighbors who have those perfect lives you see on social media.
We've got financial stress and stress from an overwhelming amount of decisions and logistics to deal with (like how the heck can I be in two places at once when kid activities happen on the same day/time?).
We've sometimes even got stress just because we deal with all that stress!
It's true folks...I can hear you nodding your heads as you read this.
If we hold all that stress inside for too long and don't take it out, it starts to get awful smelly.
Even if we tuck it all away in our proverbial garbage cans in the "garage" where no one can see it, eventually that smell is going to get too strong to deny that it's there. We have to find ways to get rid of it.
Taking out the emotional garbage is a different process for each of us.
Some of us need a night out with friends so we can commiserate. Others need quiet time alone to reflect and regroup.
And some may just need to be given reassurance that they are in fact, doing a pretty good job of living this perfectly imperfect life.
It's impossible to go through life without making any mistakes. We're going to forget things (like taking out the garbage on the right day). We're going to have days where it feels like it's all too much. And that's okay.
In fact, that's completely normal and part of being a human being.
Don't let those people on social media actually fool you into thinking life is all sunshine and roses and you must just be doing it wrong.
You know darn well that it took multiple pictures and some cussing at those kids before they got that perfectly posed family photo!
Regardless of what kind of garbage we have in our lives, we all need to remember to take it out. On whatever schedule works best for our particular version of this life.
I like to try to take mine out before it starts to smell, but sometimes I forget.
When that happens, I give myself grace, and take those cans to the curb at the very next opportunity.
Then I open the garage door to let the smell out and maybe spray a little air freshener for good measure.
The smell fades and life returns to my version of normalcy.
Until the next garbage day...