Sometimes a piece of advice resonates with you on more than one level, cutting across barriers and expanding its basic goodness into a larger truth. One of those happens to be “just do the dirty work.”

Heck, Ryan Reynolds was magnificent in summing up the responsibilities of the father or non-birth giving parent when a child comes into this world:

 

Just do the dirty work.

How many times do we shy away from the dirty work, putting the responsibilities on others for the really grisly stuff.   Who likes to change a dirty diaper? No one really, if we all had our way, babies would poop roses, even our fur babies.   Who likes to clean the cat box or pick up after the dog? Yuck!

Sometimes the mere act of agreeing to do the work, taking that task off another’s shoulders and shouldering it for yourself, even for a short time, shows more caring and compassion than floral shop full of flowers. It shows more than a great new watch or an extra vacation day at work.

If you are a parent, take the kids, all of them, away for the day, evening, afternoon, and give your partner a day to him/herself. Maybe that is taking everyone to soccer, dance, making dinner, doing the homework, dishes, starting the laundry, cleaning up the house, feeding the pets, and letting your partner do a whole lot of nothing. Let your partner know you are changing the dynamic so they can plan something for the time you give them-or choose not to.

Maybe it’s not at home where you need to do the dirty work, but at the office. Maybe you have been delegating the stuff you hate and need to take it back and do it yourself. By doing it yourself, you may be freeing up your team’s time to be more creative and find some ways to approach tasks or concerns differently.

If not at home or the office, maybe you have been avoiding your relationships with friends or extended family. How about that sister that your relationship has been rather strained with?

Is it the New Year’s resolution already trampled, the weight loss program that went south with the cheesecake the other night? Do you need to finish remodeling the basement or cleaning out the garage?   Not looking forward to spring cleaning?

Whatever it is, just do the dirty work. The sense of accomplishment will exponentially out weigh the guilt you carry around because you didn’t do it.

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