I Mopped My Floors with Cat Pee!
(insert violin playing, sad face emojis and a deep sigh).
Monday is mopping day in my house. Today is not even Monday. It's Wednesday. Mopping was not on my agenda, to do list, or schedule-never mind mopping with cat pee! So how did this happen!?
I noticed that there was a dirty spot on the kitchen floor. (ok, ok, there was more than one dirty spot! But this one in particular is what grabbed my attention). It looked like a food or juice spill. With 5 children, that occurs on a regular basis, so no reason to suspect otherwise. My morning had been going pretty well so far, and so rather than take the short cut (and just wiping up that one spot), I decided to go ahead and just mop the kitchen floor. Sweep, sweep, sweep. Mop, mop mop. (I was even thinking of you while I was mopping! You see, my kids were still asleep. And it was late enough in the morning that they should have started school by then. I was thinking of writing a blog post about how sometimes I choose to let them sleep, to allow myself the quiet time and to get things done. But then? When they finally do wake up? And are running behind? I get irritated. Smmhh. Maybe we'll chat about that another day.) Well..you know what happens when you give a mouse a cookie, right? I mean, when you have the mop bucket filled with hot cleaning solution and are already mopping one room, right? Sure! You might as well just keep on mopping and get all the floors done! So I thought. And so I did. The kitchen, the school room, then the dining room, the hallway and the downstairs bathroom. All mopped, shiny clean and smelling fresh! EEERRRRR! Only-they weren't. The further I progressed onto additional floors, the more my nose kept detecting the foul smell of cat pee. I put down the mop and went on a stink search. The mats by the doors? Nope. The carpet in the living room? Nope. The pile of clean laundry on the steps? Nope. "Hmmm...must be my imagination", I thought and continued mopping. I'll admit it, I was pretty proud of myself. The morning was going great! The house was peaceful, the rooms were straightened and we were all going to start our day with clean floors! I took a deep, satisfied breath. And.... there was that smell again!!! YUCK! I picked up the mop, and smelled it. "Smells like lemon cleaner... I think." Resolving once more that I'm imagining things, I finish the task, put down the mop and start to work on something else.
But my peaceful, fresh, seemingly going smooth morning didn't last long. When the floors dried, and I walked back through the house, the smell of cat pee was so strong it could not be denied. And suddenly it hit me! The mess on the floor!!! That little mess I assumed was spilled food or juice! The whole reason I started mopping in the first place! It must have been cat pee!!! I mopped that room first, and each time I rinsed and squeegeed out my mop, that nasty stuff mixed more and more into the water in the mop bucket! Ugh! Five rooms, lovingly mopped for my family (ok...lovingly is a bit of a stretch...but you get it), only to find out that now? The entire downstairs of my house...every square inch of floor that isn't carpet, has been covered in cat pee.
Maybe you've had something like that happen in your business? You saw a "little something" that needed attention. You were feeling pretty good. Pretty "together" and decided to jump in! With both feet even! You made those phone calls you've been putting off, or replied to those emails. You stretched yourself and were even energized by your activity! So you kept on going and tried to tackle a few more business tasks on your list! Only to discover that you've somehow made a big mess of things. A big stink! A "hold your nose" "head back now!" "this is dangerously disgusting!" kind of mess!
Maybe you were trying to help someone on your team, and words were misunderstood and now there are very hurt feelings. Maybe you were catching up on emails and came across one from a customer needing help, from a long time ago, that you never replied to! Perhaps you invested a lot of time to place phone calls and share a customer special, only to find out you gave out all the wrong information! Here..let me share my mask with you. :) It's not as bad as we think. Messes can be cleaned up. Yeah, it stinks. In my case? LITERALLY! Yeah, you were on a roll and now you feel like you've wasted time, messed up, or made things worse! But there is only one solution to mopping your floors with cat pee! You start all over again. And again. And if necessary? Again. Until the stink is gone and you have repaired the damage done. Things don't always go as planned. Not in life-in business-or mopping! And even when we feel at the top of our game and are finally moving in the right direction? Cat pee might invade and spread all over! (insert whatever your latest obstacle towards success might be). You can't just live with the invasion and the smell! No way! Wash out your bucket! Disinfect that mop! You can fix this mess! Never quit! Never stop reaching for your goals! Cry for a minute if you must (I almost did), then wipe those tears, get some great smelly stuff and get to work! As the famous and amazing Zig Ziglar once said, "Your response-or reaction-to the negative reveals what's inside of you. It exposes your heart and shows the kind of person you really are."
You know what? YOU are a great person! That's who you really are! Time to start over, start fresh, and mop again! You can do this! Smelling happy smells, Shannon Ferraby
#neverquit #nevergiveup #endurance #determination #directsalestraining #direction #sales #womeninbusiness #workfromhome #workathomemom #workfromhomemom #trytryagain #yourdailykip #nomoreexcuses #encouragement #mistakes #accomplish #entrepeneur
