So, everyone was kinda holding their breath waiting for Jimmy Butler’s return, right? You see all the chatter online, people guessing dates, wondering how he’d look on the court. I found myself checking updates pretty often, just curious like everyone else. It’s funny how invested you can get in whether a guy is playing or not.
You watch the games, you see the difference when a key player is missing. It’s not just the points, it’s the whole vibe sometimes. Then, when they finally step back onto the court, there’s this big collective sigh of relief, or excitement maybe. Seeing that happen, the whole cycle of injury, recovery, and return… it actually got me thinking about something totally different in my own little world.
That Backyard Project
It reminded me of this period a while back when I decided, finally, to sort out our disastrous backyard. It wasn’t an injury, obviously, but man, it felt like a huge mountain to climb. We’d let it go for ages. It was just weeds, uneven ground, a broken fence panel… the whole nine yards. Looked terrible.
I figured, okay, weekend project. Famous last words. First weekend, I pull up maybe a quarter of the weeds and realize the ground underneath is like concrete. My back was killing me. Then it rained for like three straight days. Everything turned to mud.
I remember standing there, looking at the mess, thinking, “What have I gotten myself into?” It felt overwhelming. A lot like how maybe a long recovery must feel, just one step forward, two steps back sometimes. There were days I just didn’t want to go out there. Made excuses. Too tired, too busy.
But then, you kinda have to push through, right? I started breaking it down. Didn’t think about the whole yard anymore. Just focused on one small square at a time. Clear this patch. Dig that hole. Plant this one thing. Little by little. Some days I’d only manage 30 minutes, but it was something.
It took way longer than I thought. Weeks turned into a couple of months of chipping away at it on weekends and some evenings. Had to learn how to fix that fence myself, watched a bunch of videos. Had to figure out what plants would actually survive my lack of a green thumb.
Finally, though, it got done. It wasn’t perfect, not like some magazine garden, but it was ours. We could actually sit out there. The fence was fixed. Things were growing. Looking back, the satisfaction wasn’t just about the finished yard. It was about sticking with it when it felt pointless. Just showing up and doing the work, even when you don’t see the end right away. Kinda like waiting for a player to return, you just gotta have faith in the process, I guess. It’s the small efforts that add up.
