Don’t be “washed up” – trust yourself!

Nothing brings a household to a grinding halt faster than a major appliance that isn’t working properly. In our home, that was our washer last Wednesday. Since I do laundry every day, I felt mildly panicked. For some reason, the machine’s cycles were mixed up. It wasn’t doing the essential spin cycle, leaving our clothes wet, heavy, and unable to go into the dryer.

Most of the time when something goes wrong, my husband John comes to the rescue. In fact, we have a saying in our family – “it isn’t broken until John Shankland says it is.” He’s quite handy, which I’ve appreciated these past 27 years.

However, we’ve all returned to work now after the holiday break … so asking John to come to the rescue wasn’t possible for hours. I took a moment to breathe and remembered something John asked me a couple of months ago when we dealt with a similar issue.

“If I weren’t here for a situation like this, what would you do?”

“Well … check online for possible answers of course.” I replied.

I took another deep breath and hopped on my computer. Sure enough, I saw two “low hanging fruit” solutions.

First, I realized we hadn’t turned on the heater in our basement to warm up the pipes for the washer. As my dear readers well know, we’re experiencing some bitterly cold temperatures right now. We learned to use this heater years ago when the pipes would freeze, and the washer couldn’t drain properly.

A clogged drain – in this case, probably a drain partially clogged with ice – can affect water flow and cycle duration. A-ha!

After letting the heater do its work for five hours, I unplugged the washer and plugged it back in – the universal easy (I crossed my fingers) way to solve most issues with electronic devices. I ran the washer and was relieved to hear the loud, but wonderful, spinning about 30 minutes later. Woo hoo!

I’ve never considered myself to be handy … but then again, there were a lot of things I’ve never considered myself to be in the past. I never thought I was strong, but I’ve endured pain and heartbreak in my 54 years of life and continue to live with enthusiasm and positivity.

I never thought I was courageous, but I took care of my elderly mother who battled dementia for seven years. I confronted her assisted living facility’s wrongdoings with the ferocity of a mama bear.

That’s the beauty of middle age. At this stage in life, we’ve experienced and learned so much – not just about the world around us, but about ourselves. We can trust that most of the time, we have the wisdom to know – or find out – what to do and how to do it well.

So, fellow women of a certain age, the next time you face a situation where you normally rely on someone else, stop, breathe, and think. You’re not “washed up.” In fact, you may very well be able to tackle the problem with confidence.

Amy Shankland is a writer and fundraising professional living in Noblesville with her husband John, two sons, two dogs, and a cat. You can reach her via email at amys@greenavenue.info.