I remember standing at the kitchen sink as a young girl, in our ramshackle old house with my saint of a Mother who was raising two kids on her own.
At the time, I didn't appreciate all the sacrifices she had made for my sister and me, and I sure didn't appreciate the fact that it was my turn to do the dishes again.
"It won't come clean," I complained with all the heart of an indentured servant forced to do horrible chores against her will.
She turned her head to me, raised her eyebrow in a way that would have done Spock proud and simply said...
"Put some elbow grease into it.
" I gritted my teeth and bore down on the old cast iron skillet with all the renewed fury a 9 year old could muster against a piece of cookware.
And do you know what happened? It came clean.
As I grew older and wiser I encountered many situations in my life that had nothing to do with the scouring of old skillets, but I discovered the most amazing thing.
If I braced myself, lowered my head and rolled up my sleeves, everything always turned out alright in the end.
Now I find myself at a point in my life where I am forced to see through a great change that is quite intimidating.
I could sit around feeling sorry for myself, or I could hide my head in the sand and cry over things that are long gone.
But I'll tell you what I'll do instead...
I'll put a little elbow grease into it, and know in my heart that everything will turn out for the best when I'm finished.