Heavy Lid Lifting

Ah…. lawn sagas.

Sam’s foot injury last summer lead to a very short-lived lawn service. That, was followed by my mowing the rest of the season. Thankfully I DID not have to repeat that experience this year.

But, I’m amused that something I once pretty much ignored (as in, didn’t really care about it as long as I didn’t have to mess with it) would become something that continues to grab my attention.

This year?

It’s watering.

Where we live there’s a sprinkler system (installed by the previous owner). Honestly, I’ve always been of the opinion that if the summer is hot and the grass turns brown…. oh well. It will get green again at some point.

Sam has a different view.

We water.

But, last month we were hosed with the news that our water meter has been misread for…. months. And, oh by the way…. too bad for us, we’re responsible for paying for the mistake of the man who made the mistake.

Ummmm….

Don’t get me wrong, we are willing to make reasonable amends.

Apparently, the way our city determines the amount is…. they guesstimate.

How they do it is…. well, I’ll just call it “less than scientific.”

Sam, being a business analyst, (applies those skills in every area of life) dealt with the customer service representative in this case.

I’ll spare you the details but suffice it to say…. the analytical skills of the people he spoke with…were challenging.

He was able to negotiate a slight reduction in our adjusted bill.

Amazingly, as I was typing this message I saw the guy who reads the meter walk onto the lawn…so I zipped out for a quick chat.

Zach was super friendly; apologized for the issues with the former “reader” and was happy to remove the lid from the meter so I could take a look. (see pic above)

As he lifted the lid my eyes were opened in more ways than one.

The dial revealed two sets of numbers and he explained which were the correct ones to look at for determining our water usage.

Apparently, some readers don’t take the time to look carefully.

As I stared into the hole I thought, “What’s so hard about this? Why couldn’t the other guy get it right?”

Then I thought again…about myself and how easy it is to misread MY numbers…about what’s really going on inside me.

How many times to I “scoot by on the sidewalk” of my own behaviors not really wanting to look at what I’m doing or why I’m doing it.

How often do I say …. “Hey, well, you know…things happen and it’s not really my fault.”

I make excuses.

Excuses are on my mind this week because of what I read in Eric Greiten’s book, Resilience.

“Excuses make us feel safe. So, we think, why not add another? Soon enough, you’re wearing excuses like a knight wearing armor. But how fast do you think you’d be able to run wearing a suit of armor? How well could you climb a mountain? How well could you hug your kids? Excuses protect you, but they exact a heavy cost. You can’t live a full life while you wear them.”

Gulp.

And that reminded me of the conversation I had with my coach this week.

She is a master at opening the lid on my thinking by the questions she asks. And you know what? It is not always fun or easy to take that journey inside.

The other thing I realized, yet again, is that I am not always able to ask those “lid lifting” questions of myself…. because I’m too close to me to see what I’m missing.

Zach had a long-handled tool with a soft cloth on the end that he used to clear away the dirt before he read my meter. He needed that to see the numbers clearly.

If no one is doing the heavy lifting of your lid by clearing away the crud and asking you the tough questions… rest assured your numbers are being misread, perhaps in more ways than you know.

And you can be sure…. there are always consequences when you misread a meter.

Grow inside. Excel outside.

Amy