Week 5 Love

Just do it. . .

Back in the post from week one, I wrote about my love for treasure hunting at thrift stores, garage sales, Craigslist, and the like. I also talked about my new obsession with crafty, recreated, vintage Pinterest decor ideas. Well, this week's love ties together week one's treasure hunting love and last week's post about encouraging myself.

Last Friday I stopped into a "used to be new" home furnishings store to take a closer look at an antique dresser I had been eyeing online for a couple weeks. The dresser turned out to be a bust, but I enjoyed browsing the rest of the vendor booths at the store and thinking how fun it would be to have my own booth. Out of habit, my mind automatically said, "You can't do something like this. Who would buy your stuff? You aren't crafty enough to do this. You'll just end up wasting a bunch of money and failing." Wow self, thanks for the vote of confidence. As I kept walking around the store the small quiet voice that encouraged me last week started to whisper in my ear, "Just try it. What do you really have to lose? If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. But if you don't try you'll never know. Don't sell yourself short by not even trying."

That small voice of encouragement was enough to get me to ask the owner about becoming a vendor. He said vendor turnover is pretty low in the store but that they actually had a vendor that would be leaving at the end of the month if I was interested in filling the space. I got all of the information, thanked him, and told him I would need to do a little thinking before I would be able to commit to renting the space. "A little thinking" may have been an understatement. I spent the next 16 hours letting the small encouraging voice and the loud criticizing voice duke it out in my head.

The next day I drove back to the store. I was so anxious I thought I was going to be sick. But I walked in and told the guy I wanted to rent the space. As soon as I did, I was absolutely ECSTATIC about my new endeavor. I don't know if I'll succeed or fail. But what I know right now is that I am super excited. And I'm proud of my small quiet voice for being able to encourage myself enough to try. Not to mention I now have an outlet for my treasure hunting obsession. And I definitely needed one. My house is way too small to hold all the treasures I have been collecting!

How have you loved yourself this week?