Squeaky Hinges

That door that squeaks every time we close it. The floorboard that whines with the smallest step. Squeaky hinges are super annoying, amiright? But here’s the strange thing about those annoying little buggers - they’re usually not bothersome enough to actually fix them right away.

Now, if your door were to actually fall off its hinges entirely, then of course you’d tend to it asap. But a little squeak? Meh, you can deal with it for a little while longer. And the thing is, at first it's super noticeable. But over time, that squeak just because part of your life. You adapt to having it around so much so that you hardly even notice it after awhile. The only times it bugs you is either when you have a guest over and you hear it through their ears, or when you're in a really bad mood and suddenly it’s the worst thing in the world. 

The problem with squeaky hinges that go untended to is that they rarely fix themselves. In fact, they usually get progressively worse over time until we're stuck with a much bigger problem than just a whining floorboard. And then we get mad at ourselves for letting it go so long untended to. 

Have you ever stopped to consider that YOU may also have some squeaky hinges? Those little things that you don't love about yourself or your situation, but they’re not worrisome enough to fix them. They’re not these big huge blaring problems, so we tend to let them go unchecked for as long as possible, hoping that we'll just stop noticing them at all. 

Unfortunately, as you've already guessed given our analogy and your insane wisdom, those squeaky hinges usually don’t resolve themselves. They slowly build up and break us down over time, until something much bigger presents itself. 

I don't know about you, but I, for one, don't want that. 

And so, this week’s journaling theme is all about fixing those little squeaky hinges in our lives. Taking a flashlight through all our inner nooks and crannies in order to identify, AND FIX, those annoying little squeaks. We’re done letting them exist in our spaces. Let’s tend to them while they're still little and manageable. 

For your journaling, I want you to take a few minutes to think about an event, situation,  or a conversation that still feels charged to you. Maybe your partner said or did something that still really upsets you when you think about it. Maybe you’re mad at yourself for making one decision instead of a different one. Maybe you’re just ticked off that they once again switched up the aisle orientation at your local Target. 

However big or small it is, or how long ago it happened, if you can easily drum up a moment that still ruffles your feathers, that’s what we’re looking for here. This week, you’ll be untangling this moment for yourself in order to free your space of yet another squeaky hinge. 

Happy journaling!