So, I’ve been blessed with a fantastically un-large, yes un-large apartment. And years ago, one of my lovely mothers gave me a very wonderful, very large coffee table. No space at all!
I had this idea floating around in my head for months about all the fancy little tables I was going to get to inhabit my un-large living room space. Eventually I came to the realization that they were #1 -out of my budget, and #2- not worth their asking price. First I couldn’t get the TV stand I wanted, and now I cant have the coffee table either! Enter the “I see I’m not going to get my way again temper tantrum” #realitycheck!
Well, my fuzzy poof feline buddy Mystn passed away a couple of years ago. I’ve been hanging onto her old carrier, which actually used to belong to her best friends Merlibop and Davinci who moved to Seattle. I didn’t want to get rid of it, or the memories of lugging her around in that horrid plastic contraption for her doctor appointments. Mystn used to nap in there on my old t-shirts. Absolutely impossible for me to just throw it away.
I had already painted the carrier orange. I thought I would make a YouTube video on how to spruce up an old pet commodity. I had no idea what I was going to do with it after that. It was just randomly laying around the apartment. Ideas slowly started forming each day as I looked at that thing. It was starting to look a little more appealing sitting on my floor. Well, when I finally got around to hosting my personal middle of the night rearranging of the space event, guess what? Pet carrier worked out perfectly as the center of attraction for my living room!
Yes! This table has become pretty much a permanent resting space for my laptop. Inside, I keep the cords, and other remotes and stuff that would normally be sitting out. It even has built in cup holders on the top. Pet carrier + spray paint = awesome small space living room addition!
Next, I’ll show you what I did to the very wonderful, very large (did I mention very wooden?) coffee table.
So I enjoy watching home improvement shows, house hunting shows. I love hunting online for new ideas for art projects. Like many of us, I figured I CAN DO THAT, TOO! I came up with elaborate plans in my head on how I’d create this awesome businesses. I blabbed my ideas to friends and co-workers.
One of them finally said, LET’S DO IT! Then I got scared. Then I got to work, getting licensed, getting excited! Then I got hit with the reality that IT IS A LOT OF WORK TO RUN A BUSINESS!! Well duh! Yeah, I knew it would be work, but I did not know it would be WORK! WORK! WORK! WORK! WOOOOOOOORK!
GEEZ! All I was trying to do was sell some freaking art and furniture! I gave up. I stopped working on projects, I didn’t speak of my business unless asked. And when I answered it was mostly a bunch of --you know, just to quickly answer and get away. I had ideas but nothing was going the way I had planned. Failure was going to be the end of this little trip. I was getting myself ready to accept that it was over. I was going to dissolve it and not care anymore! But every time I would get ready to, I’d hear “Don’t dissolve your business,” or “God’s working on it.”
WELL, can I tell you how fed up I was about hearing what God was working on? It sure couldn’t be Trash As Art! All I saw was a bunch of furniture piling up in my minuscule apartment! Dashed hope, dead dreams, false witnesses to the life I was supposed to be living.
I had help from friends, but none of the help was getting anything going. And the help started falling off. The last person said they couldn’t do it anymore, and I walked around in a daze because I was out with some friends when I found out. I was trying to keep myself together while I was out. All I wanted to do was cry, cry, cry, cry, scream, cry some more, scream some more, repeat!
The next morning I talk to God while getting ready for the day. I vented my frustration at the whole business situation. The Lord began to speak to me. God blessed me with a new vision. Well, not new. It was the vision for this business that I was originally given, but had somehow lost focus of. Amazing! I was right back at the beginning! But guess what? I was happy, I was rejuvenated! I was finally moving forward! I have been ever since! My family has been a great. New opportunities, and help are being poured upon my business! Sure there are days, weeks even when things get tough. I often have to take a step back and ask, “Lord am I doing this right? Show me what to do!” It’s not easy, but I’m blessed to be able to do things I love. I still have a ton of growing to do, but it keeps getting better and better. And you know what? I’m still standing, but by the grace of God!
