Yes I know we are in the 21st century and you are probably rolling your eyes in disbelief. Let me explain.  We have a dishwasher in our house. And for 15 years, I have not use it once. Until manual handwashing became too much for me to handle.

Why? 

Because one, I have never used it before. We had always hand washed our dishes. My parents apparently had one but they didn’t know how to use it. In their defense, English was their third language and having a dishwasher was a luxury only the rich could afford in Cambodia. We only knew the manual way of washing dishes.

When I moved to my own house, there was one but I wasn’t going to use it. Why? Because I was told that it doesn’t clean properly. That it was a waste of electricity and water. 

The One Time I Failed.

I did give it a try. Once. I tried to use dish soap and it was disastrous. There were bubbles coming out everywhere. I should have read the manual but I didn’t. It felt way too complicated.

And so I washed everything by hand. But as our family grew and the piles of dishes kept stacking, I was finally over it. There had to be a better way to do this. 

The Day It Became Too Much.

After one exhausting day of work, cooking and then having to manually clean the dishes, I threw my hands up in frustration. I was mad. My ten year old son, who was hanging by the kitchen during this time, asked me, 

“Why don’t you use the dishwasher?” I paused and thought about it. It was a great question. 

This was when I realized that I had some limiting beliefs when it came to cleaning the dishes. 

That cleaning by hand doesn’t mean it is cleaner. In fact, the dishwasher can be really efficient in cleaning.  I thought that the dishwasher used more water than hand washing. I was wrong. 

So I dug out the manual and brought the dishwashing soap for dishwashers (not regular dish soap) and tried it again.  And it worked. It was a little loud and noisy but it got the work done. 

The Things I Learned.

I realized that I had some limiting beliefs holding me back when it came to using the dishwasher. Sometimes the things that we are told or taught are not necessarily true. When I confronted those beliefs and tried to do it differently,  I learned something new and gained something different.

The dishwasher was a tool designed to help make our lives easier. Just like the washing machine and dryer. There is no shame in using the dishwasher. 

Final Words.

If you are like me and have a dishwasher hanging out in your kitchen, do put it to use. It will not only save your sanity but will give you back time and energy to do other more important things in life. Likewise, know that limiting beliefs exist beyond the kitchen and in our everyday life and thoughts. It is important to be aware of them and to reexamine them as needed to ensure it doesn’t limit our ability to live life fully.

Were there any limiting beliefs that you discovered recently? Drop a comment and let me know.!