the Monday Morning Debrief: Front Lawn Mower
Yesterday, I got home with the girls from a great weekend of softball and dance. We were gone all weekend. As we were pulling into the neighborhood, we were all excited about being back. However, when we pulled up to our house, I noticed something very glaring….my lawn!
Everyone’s lawn was mowed…but not MY house! And, it was driving me crazy! I tried to not worry about it but as I was unpacking the car, I began thinking about it more and more until finally I got out of my house around 7:30 and started mowing the lawn!
Why was it driving me crazy?!? Because I NEEDED my lawn to look just like everyone else’s. I couldn’t stand my lawn looking like the outcast, uncared for one.
The problem is that I only had enough daylight to mow the front lawn. However, that was good enough for me. No one could see my back yard, so as long as my front yard was mowed…the yard the neighbors could see, I wouldn’t be considered less than by them. Now, I know they wouldn’t care if my lawn was mowed or not, but I did. I wanted my house’s appearance to be just like everyone else’s, even if the backyard wasn’t done.
So what does mowing the front lawn have to do with anything?
I wondered if this is how most of us live our lives…mowing the front of our lawns only. By that I mean, we keep up our outwardly appearance (our front lawn) while the rest of our lives may be anything other than perfect. We groom our outward appearance and hide all the other junk in our lives that we fear others will judge us for. We pretend out jobs are going better than they are, our marriages and family life are great and that we ourselves are doing just fine.
Why do we live this way? Why are we so afraid to let people in on who we really are?
As I finished mowing just the front half of my lawn yesterday, I challenged myself to give up mowing just my front yard and to be better about letting people in on my life. Although I like to pretend, I know I’m not perfect and that I have my fair share pains, hurts, worries and imperfections. So, I’m striving to be more honest and NOT be just a front yard mower anymore. It probably won’t be easy, but I’m going to try.
What do you think? Are you are front yard mower, too?
