“You approached it like it was heavy, so it was.”

In the past I have written about my struggles with laundry. Laundry and I have a tumultuous relationship. The laundry tumults and I trip over it and fuss about having to fold it. My kids’ relationship with those baskets of socks, shorts, and shirts is way more tragic than mine.

Each day my children are given chores. Nothing too crazy. They are to do things like empty the dishwasher, take out the trash, and clean off the table, but this past weekend my boys were to fold the socks. As far as sock piles go, this one was definitely more of a mole hill than a mountain.

It took my 8 year-old and 6 year-old almost two hours to fold approximately 20 pairs of socks.

It was ugly.

Hubby had to threaten. I had to physically remove every electronic device, every pillow and blanket, and some small furniture from the living room so they could do their job.

When the 2nd hour loomed and I had better things to do than wait for socks to be folded, I set the kitchen timer for 5 minutes.

If the socks were not folded, sorted, and delivered to their respective rooms in those 5 minutes, there would be NO internet, TV, Legos, baseball, or fishing for a week.

Well, the socks were folded and sorted but not close to being put away. My youngest son had the most massive of meltdowns as the timer ran out.

I waited as my older son finished delivering the socks to their destinations. I didn’t say a word.

He looked at me and collapsed on the couch. “Finally, we are done!” he exclaimed.

Hubby pointed out that most of the work was done in those final five minutes.

Immediately, both boys started blaming one another for the task taking so long. At that point Hubby and I were “done.” The boys were sent to their rooms in tears.

Later I went to each of their rooms and asked,“Why was it so hard to fold socks?”

Both made excuses and both complained that none of their friends had to fold their own laundry. I listened and then rebuffed all their ploys with examples of tougher tasks that they had completed in the past.

“Why was it so hard to fold socks?”

They made it hard. That’s why.

“You approached it like it was heavy, so it was.”

Whatever the task or condition may be, when we approach a situation like it’s something that going to bring us down, it does just that.

We have to take on our to-do’s with a willingness to succeed and the understanding that each chore is a chance be productive.

Today’s Intentergy challenge is to change the weight you give to one task or situation.

Don’t allow it to be something that weighs you down. Make it an opportunity to lift yourself up. Put some positivity in your push to move past that dreaded task and I am certain you will build up energy to move even the greatest of mole hills or mountains.

By: Melanie A. Peters

P.S. If my children do die from folding socks, I will bury them with the sock pile. I don’t need that kind of guilt weighing me down.