How many times have you just decided to go it alone so you can control the outcome, just get it done your way, because you didn't want to bother someone asking for help or just so you could do it faster? We are all guilty of it from time to time. Since our move in May of 2023 to a neighborhood, with close neighbors we have come to change a lot of the ways we once had. First and foremost, people living right next door, where you can actually see them coming and going...before we were on a couple acres and woods separated us. Now days, we know everyone's cars, we see people coming and going and genuinely come to enjoy the comradery of having friends within a stones throw. We have already cultivated relationships we know will last a lifetime in just a year. We've celebrated a wedding, graduations, pregnancies, birthdays, Christmas and even the sadness of losing a family member. We are all from different walks of life, different ages, listen to different music, have different hobbies and are all in various stages of life. When doing things around our house we have always just done them together or on our own depending on what it is. I love to cook, I love to share and I love to feed people, I cook meals with MacKay or by myself, it's my therapy. MacKay enjoys keeping our yard looking pristine, he does it alone because it takes longer to tell people how to do things than to just get it done. We all have things like that which require no help or we prefer no help, doesn't mean it doesn't still go far. HOWEVER, when said husband decides to sand our Bermuda lawn for the third time this year, his wife starts to question life. This wife despises yard work and getting my hands in dirt. I hate the way it makes my hands feel. Give me food to prepare and I'll dirty my hands that way.
This past weekend three additional neighbors enlisted MacKay's expertise and prepped their yards to be sanded as well. We all came together and grabbed shovels, over 11 tons of sand were spread over four lawns. We got it all done in record time before a nice storm set in. We were drenched in sweat, wore blisters on our hands, chaffed thighs and were thirsty to the point of exhaustion. But, we got it done. Now if you don't know what 11 tons of sand looks like, let me paint the picture, that's FIVE pick up truck loads. Five people shoveling, one dragging and all of us benefiting. Of course, everyone could have done it on their own but all of us together and knocking it out as a team did make it go faster. More importantly it made the knowledge of one man sharing, go farther. Now multiple people know the purpose, the benefits and what it takes to feel that accomplishment. Going alone has it's benefits that we all prefer at times but nothing stands out quite like success when shared with friends. It's like crossing the finish line of a marathon hand in hand with those who support you most. Working together to accomplish a goal and reaping the benefit of the reward.
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