Today I Choose to be Rebuilding – How to be Rebuilding

In 2020, in the midst of COVID, we decided to remodel our house: new kitchen, raised ceilings, new tile throughout. For a couple of months, our entire living area—everything except the bedrooms—was gutted. Dust prevailed even in the bedrooms, but we had a vision of what our home would look like, and that vision made the chaos bearable.

We’ve had to rebuild in other ways too. When Obama-era legislation about glider kits made the very thing Curtis had been selling no longer permissible, his company closed overnight. He turned on a dime and got a job selling buses. There was no pipeline of customers ready to buy, but he had a blueprint for success, and with that blueprint, we could see the possibility of the future.

That’s what rebuilding is: scaffolding, dust, and vision all at once. It’s messy and disruptive, but it’s also proof that you believe in what’s ahead.

Today, I choose to see the beauty in the blueprint.

Rebuilding Requires Vision

Whether you’re reconstructing your living space, your career, or your life after a major change, the process always involves living in discomfort while working toward something you can envision but not yet touch.

During our home renovation, we couldn’t use our kitchen for months. We cooked on a hot plate, washed dishes in the bathroom sink, and ate meals sitting on folding chairs in what used to be our dining room. But every day, we could see progress toward the vision we’d created together.

That vision is what makes the temporary inconvenience not just bearable, but meaningful. Without it, renovating would just be destruction and chaos. With it, every day of mess becomes an investment in a better future.

Professional Rebuilding

Curtis’s career change happened faster than our home renovation but required the same fundamental elements: accepting the end of what was, maintaining faith in what could be, and working systematically toward a new reality.

When the regulations changed overnight, he could have panicked or spent months lamenting the loss of his established business. Instead, he quickly assessed what skills and relationships he could transfer to a new industry and began building from there.

Professional rebuilding often requires this kind of rapid adaptation. The foundation of skills, relationships, and work ethic remains, but the structure built on top of it needs to change to match new circumstances.

His transition to bus sales wasn’t just about finding any job—it was about strategically applying his existing strengths in a new context while building the specific knowledge and connections that industry required.

The Rebuilding Mindset

Successful reconstruction requires a particular way of thinking that balances acceptance of current disruption with commitment to future possibility.

Embrace the mess. Rebuilding is inherently chaotic. Accepting that the process will be uncomfortable allows you to focus on progress rather than spending energy fighting against temporary inconvenience.

Maintain the vision. Like our ability to see our beautiful new kitchen even while cooking on a hot plate, keeping the end goal vivid and compelling helps you persist through difficult phases.

Focus on systems, not just outcomes. Curtis didn’t just switch from selling glider kits to selling buses—he adapted his sales process, relationship-building approach, and market research methods to fit a new industry.

Leverage existing strengths. Effective rebuilding doesn’t start from scratch—it finds ways to apply proven abilities in new contexts.

Emotional Aspects of Reconstruction

Whether rebuilding your home, career, or life circumstances, the process involves significant emotional labor alongside the practical work.

There’s grief for what you’re leaving behind, even when the change is positive. Our old kitchen had served us well for years. Curtis’s glider kit business had been successful and fulfilling. Acknowledging what you’re losing helps you move forward without dragging unresolved sadness into your new reality.

There’s also anxiety about whether your vision will actually materialize. What if the renovation doesn’t turn out as planned? What if the new career direction doesn’t work? Managing this uncertainty while continuing to take constructive action is one of the key skills rebuilding teaches you.

And there’s excitement about possibility. Some of the most energizing moments during reconstruction come from seeing your vision start to take concrete form—the first day your new kitchen counters are installed, the first successful sale in your new industry.

Practical Rebuilding Strategies

Effective reconstruction requires both big-picture thinking and attention to daily logistics.

Plan for the transition period. Like our hot plate cooking setup, having realistic systems for functioning during the rebuilding phase prevents the process from becoming overwhelming.

Break the vision into phases. Large rebuilding projects become manageable when divided into smaller, sequential goals that build on each other.

Maintain what you can. During our renovation, we kept our bedroom routines as normal as possible. During career transitions, maintaining financial stability and key relationships provides continuity amid change.

Celebrate progress markers. Acknowledging milestones along the way—first wall removed, first new client, first phase completed—helps sustain motivation through the long middle of reconstruction.

The Beauty of the Blueprint

There’s something profoundly hopeful about choosing to rebuild. It’s a declaration that you believe in your ability to create something better than what currently exists. It’s an investment in a future you can envision but haven’t yet experienced.

Both our home renovation and Curtis’s career change required faith in possibility combined with practical action toward making that possibility real. The blueprint—whether architectural plans or a business strategy—becomes a bridge between current reality and future vision.

The most beautiful aspect of rebuilding isn’t the finished result, though that’s certainly satisfying. It’s the process of proving to yourself that you can live through disruption, work toward long-term goals, and create meaningful change in your life.

Today, I choose to engage in reconstruction not just as a response to changing circumstances, but as an active expression of my belief in what’s possible.

Because rebuilding is ultimately about hope in action: the willingness to tear down what isn’t working and construct something better in its place.