Even at the best of times, things sometimes go wrong. Today was not the best of times. Something knocked out my phone line. The number in the phone book for SBC couldn’t be reached from my cell phone. I had coaching calls to make. I couldn’t make them on my cell phone because it began beeping to let me know the battery had run down and it was about to shut down.
I managed to find in email from SBC another number to try and the battery on my cell phone held out long enough for me to hear that my phone line would be fixed by...7 pm—AFTER my coaching calls had to be completed!
Put my cell phone charging. Realized I’d almost used up all the time on it and made a note to refill time once it was charged. Luck was with me and the phone line did get fixed before my coaching calls had to be made. Thank heavens!
So there I was, breathing a deep sigh of relief, when I went out back and discovered my garbage had not been picked up and—more importantly—the new container had not been left. Called and was told they didn’t know but if it wasn’t picked up today it would be tomorrow. Okay, I wasn’t pleased but...okay. Until I went back out 2 hours later to discover someone had stolen my NEW red kitchen metal trash can. ::SIGH::
I wanted to cry. I can guess, of course, that someone was scavenging and thought I was discarding the thing. But still....
Even now, there is a part of me that started to feel everything was now going to go wrong. And even a part of me that felt it was hubris on my part to think it was okay for me to have a house. But...
I’ve come a long way on my journey and now it’s so much easier to step back and remind myself that things simply happen. It was so much easier to separate the old fears from the present reaction and see that what was happening today was a series of nuisances—nothing really critical. It was okay. It was okay for me to have this house. That I could still figure out ways to handle things that go wrong. That I do not have to live my life expecting things to go badly. I could remind myself that glitches always happen—to everyone—and that we have a choice how we will react when they do occur. And it is that choice which will determine the quality of our lives far more than the actual events that happen to us.
So...choose to believe in the possibility of goodness in your lives. Focus on what can go right and the ways you can give yourself joy. Every day—EVERY DAY—make sure you find ways and reasons to smile or laugh at least 3 times. It is a promise to yourself that no matter what, you CAN create happy moments in your life. If things are going well, these times are a bonus. If life is challenging, it is a promise to yourself that it won’t always have to be this way. Even more important, the moments when you smile and laugh will give you greater resilience and strength and creativity to deal with whatever glitches do occur.
My next adventure? Seeing if I can get DSL working on my system. Until next time, remember to find reasons to smile and laugh every day!
April
