Writing in Snow

Never Ending Jobs

Word count: 570

I saw a movie once called the Never Ending Story; it was a story about a dragon and a boy. I hear a song once called the Never Ending Song; it started and ended on the same note with the same words. Some chores are never ending; they are eternal and form a circle from the beginning of the day to the end and then they start again the next day. Other chores form the circle of the week these begin the week and end the week; they seem uninterrupted and if a person lets them they become boring and a chore.

If a job becomes boring, it becomes a chore, it becomes an endless nightmare. A job can only become a chore if we let it, any job can become a bore and a chore or interesting and fun. It is a point of view, it is a place in the soul, and it is a state of mind. I need to find the fun in washing dishes; I used to enjoy washing dishes. I also need to find the fun in doing laundry; I used to enjoy doing laundry. How can I bring the joy back into dishwashing and laundry?

Just because a job is never ending does not mean that it cannot be fun. There is a secret to making any job fun and enjoyable. Once a person finds that secret then every job the person performs is a joy. My grandmother enjoyed doing housework; she knew the secret of making housework fun. I never ask her about that secret because I never thought to ask the question.

My mother enjoyed doing housework; she knew the secret of making housework fun. I am not sure she could tell me the secret now because she may have forgotten it. Perhaps the secret is different for each person, maybe I have to rediscover the secret for myself. I think I may have known how to make doing laundry and washing dishes fun. Perhaps I still know the secret if I look deep into my soul maybe I will find the secret again.

Maybe I can rediscover the secret through prayer. Happiness is a spiritual attribute. Happiness is a state of the soul. If I approach laundry and dishwashing from a spiritual rather then a material state of mind then maybe it will be fun again. Was that my state of mind originally? I remember that I enjoyed helping Mom and Grandma with the laundry and the dishes. The jobs were fun and they did not seem like a chore.

Of course, I was a child then. People change as they mature. People change as they live each day. A child finds things fun that an adult finds a chore. Perhaps that is the secret, learning to be a child again. Perhaps I take life too seriously. There could be a lot of reason I do not find washing dishes and doing laundry fun.

Next time I wash the dishes, I need to approach it from a different angle. Perhaps I need to focus on the job at hand and not let my mind wonder on what needs doing next. I know that when I did the laundry on morning of Thursday, July 08, I found a few moments of enjoyment when I focused on the way the machine dispensed the detergent and the fabric softener dispensed into the washer.