The White Couch
- Mar 3, 2016
- 3 min read
a new couch
I went shopping for a new couch last year. I had always wanted a white couch. I loved the cleanness of it. I loved the idea of the stark contrast it could provide against my peacock blue wall (which also received a ton of speculation).
I wanted that white couch and while at the store deciding, it became an awful experience. I had all of the voices in my head, the voices of judgment ringing in my ears, the voices… all of the many voices.
Which weren't my own.
The voices
So often when we try to make decisions, we consider what we think others might do. We likely hear our parents, close family members, our friends and in return we often times don't even hear our own voices.
I can't tell you how many times I have wanted to do something and didn't because I was concerned with what other people might think OR concerned with how it might look.
The voices are back - I have recently began to make plans to sell my condo, I have many different options: buy another condo, buy a house (an old house with lots of charm), or build a new home.
With each of these options I had a TON of opinions spewed my direction. None which I asked for besides the one from my realtor (and my uncle). It's not that I don’t care about the opinions of my family or friends in this situation. It's just that I am so sick of hearing the voices, the voices of others, that end up making me choose a direction that I really didn't want to go.
As I've gotten older, I feel like I do everything with more and more caution. For the longest time I have been telling myself to wait to move into a bigger house until I get married and a man can help me with the yard/snow removal.
Wait to move until you need more space for children.
Don't buy an old house.
You aren't handy and a lonely pink screw driver is not the tool needed to fix a broken pipe!
But then I realized I was waiting for all of these things to happen. I was waiting for the man to come along and give me the house and life I've always dreamed of. I was waiting for children to just magically enter my life. I was waiting for my dream house to just fall into my lap.
I'm tired of waiting
I am tired of living my life with so much caution that I really feel like I am not living the life I want AT ALL! I want a bigger home so I can entertain my friends and family. I want a bigger home so when friends visit from out of town, they have space to stay. I want a dog friend for Darla (my amazing, loving kitty), so I need a yard.
So I am going to make some choices, I'm going to make some changes. I may ask for your opinion, but I really might not give a $hi+ about your answer.
I really must disclose my secret about the white couch
I was shopping with my friends daughter, she was 7 at the time. I was showing her the couch and she was the one that helped me finalize my decision. She just kept saying how cool it was and that she loved it. She didn't consider that someone might spill on it, that it might not fit in the next home I live in.
She just knew it was perfect for me and she made me realize that too.
My decisions
I have some decisions to make. I want to make most of them on my own. I want the support of my friends and family. I just really don't want to hear any of the negative opinions around my decisions. And not because I don't want or need the support but because I want to make a decision that I am in love with, as much as I'm in love with that white couch.
AuthenticallyAmy has a team of Everyday People that contribute to this blog. We believe that it's the everyday people that make a difference in our lives. Leaders don't always lead from the top.
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