For a long time I thought of myself as being anti-DIY. In case you aren’t familiar with the term, DIY = “Do It Yourself.”
Scrapbooks, refurbishing, and hand-making just aren’t my thing. I don’t mind arts and crafts for fun from time to time, but I’d much rather BUY party favors, or a face scrub, or cut out sweaters than make them myself. I would think, whose got time for that?
But you know what I’ve realized lately? I’m into more serious DIY than all of those tutorials I see on Pinterest.
I’m far too often DIYing all day, every day. You see, for as long as I can remember, my natural tendency is to DIY my life.
I’m naturally a problem solver. I’m miss fix-it. I’d rather do it myself than risk anyone else taking control of MY job. MY relationships. MY thoughts. MY life.
Don’t get me wrong - I think that self improvement and independence are incredible qualities for someone to have. But as with most strengths, when used incorrectly or to extremes - this self sufficiency can easily become a greatest weakness.
Trying to DIY life can work for a time, and it can even make you feel on top of the world (control has a tendency to do that). But eventually it becomes counterproductive and backfires. While DIY is typically supposed to save you on the normal cost of things, when you DIY your life it ends up costing you so much more.
For me, it leads to becoming mentally and emotionally drained, feeling hopeless, frustrated, and alone (to name a few).
Talk about being a debbie downer, right?
Well, thankfully there’s good news, and it makes life a whole lot easier and more enjoyable than the solitude of DIY. It’s called doing life with others.
While there are certainly times to embrace being alone and doing things by ourselves, we’re not meant to DIY through and through. We’re not created to live DIY lives – we’re created to have community with OTHERS. That’s where the magic happens, people.
In addition to being created to have connection and unity with other people, we’re also meant to have a relationship with God. Whether you believe in that or not, the fact that there is a God who wants a personal relationship with each and every one of us is the thing I’m most sure about in life.
God actually wants to do things with us. Oftentimes He actually just wants to do them completely for us – only requiring that we surrender our self-sufficiency to Him. It’s difficult to believe that it’s that simple, but it is.
The irony is that surrendering and partnering with God on all of those DIY “projects” not only gets the job done, but it results in a peace that we’d never be able to get by doing things on our own.
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Anyone else a life DIYer? In what ways do you try to connect with others and/or God?
Great post. Thanks for sharing!
really enjoyed this. great scriptures to substantiate.
This is such an amazing post and SO true. I do the exact same thing. I assume that I can craft, put together and fix everything in my life. And time and time again, God has to show me that He’s really the author and creator. He’s the only one who can really “do” anything. It’s important to take a step back and put it all in His hands. Really inspiring post. Thanks for this!
amen, girl! so glad this post resonated with you <3
I’ve been making a concerted effort to surrender control recently. Let go, let God. Life happens how it’s going to happen whether we like it or not. Might as well enjoy the ride.
Oh so much YES. I used to be an event planner/programmer/volunteer manager and would insist on doing everything myself because obviously I was the only person who could do it right. A lot of things have changed since I left that job but I try to keep up with event planning with a few not-for-profits I volunteer with. The first time it was impossible to release some control; nearly 3 years later, I’m a lot better at it professionally since working collaboratively makes events better. In my person life, not as easy, but I at least try to reach out to friends if I need something…..which is usually a hug.
I used to work in events too so I can totally relate! That’s definitely an area it’s especially difficult to let go of control because it risks so much going wrong, haha. But you’re right - collaborating really takes things to the next level!
Also with you on needing hugs 😉 hehe. Thanks for this comment! xoxo
What a beautiful post and connection to the DIY lifestyle- I never would have thought of that but it makes so much sense. For so much of my life I had God in it, but tried to lead the way my life was going to work out. And that didn’t go so well. It’s taken complete surrender on my part that I’ve finally realized that God’s plans are so much better than my own!! I totally agree about the community sense too, at my church among the young adults we always #dolifetogether and it’s amazing how much better that makes everything!
Awesome, Emily! I love the #dolifetogether hash tag
I had an epiphany last year that life was supposed to be about relationships, from my relationship with God to my relationship with others. It came with glass-shattering sound effects and everything. I’ve always tried to do everything myself and strive for perfection, and oftentimes that meant keeping people at arms length, including occasionally God. You know, because He might know my imperfections or something! I love this post so much, and it’s a great reminder about how much of a silo I can place myself in. Thanks!
Wow, thanks so much for sharing that, Krista! I couldn’t agree (and relate) more <3