We bought our first hot tub this year, and New England winters are now soooooo much easier to bear.
We immediately invited friends over to share the joy.
We thought we were being so generous with our tub, and now we find we've been a little too generous. After our first week of glorious steaming under the dark and starry winter skies, we discovered we'd given a dozen of our friends a whopping case of hot tub rash.
Unfortunately, we've had less-than-spectacular support and service from the company we bought the hot tub from.
We've switched maintenance serice and products to another company in town. We test our water samples and add this chemical and that. The next time we fill our tub, we'll be switching to a whole nother method of keeping our tub clean and healthy and safe.
Normally, I'd be too ashamed to admit this. But today the metaphors are just too spot-on to pass up.
As I tested and tweaked the water yesterday, I got to thinking:
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could test our lives the same way?
When things get toxic, or simply just smell "off", you could pull out a little test strip and add the balancing elements.
(OK, hot tub rash isn't toxic, just highly annoying. It ITCHES.)
Water too acidic? You find yourself being impatient and unkind? Your outlook on life has become a little too caustic? Time to add a buffering agent--maybe a little kindness and understanding.
Not enough acidity? Others are being caustic to YOU? Others around you feel free to take "nibbles"? (See an earlier blog entry, "THE NIBBLE THEORY" here: http://jonudell.net/radio-luann/2004/09/25.html ) Maybe it's time to get tougher, set stronger boundaries, and ask for what we need from those around us to restore the balance.
Treatment still not working? Maybe it's time to look at your filtering system. Does it need to be cleaned or changed to make sure it's scouring those bad influences out before they get recirculated back into your life? What color glasses are YOU looking at life through? And how do YOU handle the dreck that spills over into your life? Do you hold on to the bad stuff and setbacks in life? Or do you let go and toss it out?
Evidence of toxic infiltration? Time for a shock treatment! Sometimes you need extreme measures to get those negative influences and toxic relationships out of your life.
Is the balance still not right? Then you may have to empty the tub and start all over again. Maybe even try a whole new system to get the results you want.
I've done that active listening thing for two friends in the last week. My husband said, "So when is it YOUR turn?" I realize that process may indeed be a good water balance test strip. Er, life balance. A quick check in to see if I have the balance I need to make my art the best it can be.
Time to see if it's safe to go back in the water.
P.S. And if you DO give your friends a rash, be sure to say you're sorry. And take them out to dinner.
Maybe even buy them a bottle of their favorite single-malt whiskey.
