In a daytime TV show,
called Homes Under the Hammer,
a property investor buys a house
so that he can renovate it
and then sell it on again at a profit.

The houses bought
have many short-comings.
They are usually in poor decorative state
or worse,
in a poor state of repair.
Many require extensive renovation.

But where other people see
dilapidation, disrepair
and a huge amount of hard work,
the property investor sees
something entirely different –
potential.

He looks beyond the here and now
to his own personal vision
of what that house can become
once he has transformed it.

As I struggle through the chaos
of my daily life,
I am acutely aware
of my many short-comings.
I am deeply conscious that many times
I fail to reach my potential
and that I let myself down.
Worse than that,
I let others down.

Homes Under the Hammer reminds me
not to judge myself too harshly
and to see my life instead
as simply a work in progress,
just like the houses
in Homes Under the Hammer.

© Claire Murray