Life. A wonderful, sometimes painful, and always mysterious gift that has been bestowed upon us. And, to make the most of life, you need to learn certain life lessons, and believe it or not, life lessons can sprout from many unexpected places — even from a DIY kit. You might wonder what you can learn from fixing things yourself or building anything. After all, you are simply repairing a broken bench, changing a bulb, or assembling an IKEA set. How does this help? The answer is simple. All life lessons start from one point — observation.
How can fixing things yourself help you learn life lessons?
How many can say that they have ever truly observed the space they inhabit and are “familiar with”? You live in an apartment for 5 years and if anyone asks you the ratio of the cement to sand used, you will draw a blank. You may have the plumbing lines, but you will not know how to fix a leak at midnight. In such emergencies, you need to shell out quite an amount of money to enjoy the emergency aid of a plumber. But if you had paid attention and taken the risk of exploring the plumbing or the cracked wall, you would have been able to gather some knowledge about the basics of your house.
While DIY projects that require complex power tools may not be everyone’s cup of tea (or coffee), managing minor repairs are a must and you do learn certain valuable life lessons:
● You learn the virtue of patience and sharpen your observation skills
● You realize that no matter what, short-cuts will always lead to shoddy results
● You will value the importance of having an eye for details (once your mind starts noticing patterns and look for alternatives, you are into the big league)
● You get the confidence to measure and cut because you will always measure carefully to not waste resources
● Lastly, you will have an experience and feel happy about saving some bucks on plastering a wall or decorating
Once you start repair work, you will feel that you have achieved something on every successful repair job done by you. This positive mindset will further enhance your creativity and help you improve your professional productivity too.
Where to start?
DIY projects and repairs are tough for people who have never gotten their hands dirty with wires, adhesives, shavings, etc., so starting slow is the way to go. Here are a few beginners’ projects that you can take up to gain experience:
1. Painting
You cannot go wrong with a simple paint job. Start with one wall. Understand the different strokes and how it looks on the wall. You can look up online for guidance about the brushes to use, the types of paints to consider, and strokes to apply.
2. Electric repairs
While the term ‘electricity’ often sends shockwaves through the brain, changing faulty electrical fittings is very easy. You can switch off the breaker and get on with the rewiring, replacing bulbs or fans, or fuse changing task.
3. Drilling and tackling wall hanging
Whether it is a painting or a really artistic wall decor that you want to showcase from a height, you need the correct drills and nails to get the job done and the display pieces to hang properly. The trick is to look for studs. Since these are part of the main framework of the building, you can count on their strength to bear the heavy hanging. If you cannot find a stud at the place of your choosing, use wall anchors as they too do the job splendidly.
Once you have these basics down, you can move on to more elaborate projects. But remember, you will also be moving on to better and bigger tools. Those are expensive and you need to do thorough research to keep them in proper working order.
When you are fixing something, rather than replacing it or enlisting someone else, you learn to value the thing. Similarly, when you work on repairing a relationship or a professional goal, you learn to value it. You know the work that went into it, you cherish it, and you learn life lessons from it.
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