This morning greeted me with a plugged up toilet in my bathroom (the one my boys are NOT supposed to use), which meant that I had to quick scamper downstairs before nature took a course of its own.
I started the coffee and opened the fridge for creamer only to discover my fridge was on the blink AGAIN! It was the third time in six weeks that our three year old refrigerator (yes the warranty just expired) quit working.
I transferred the milk, eggs, butter to the downstairs fridge and decided that I needed to choose to have a great day. So, I stopped and said a little prayer that went something like this:
"Dear Lord, if this was my last day on Earth, I wouldn't want to be ticked off about little insignificant things like clogged toilets and warm refrigerators, so I am choosing to have a great day. Please help me to do so."
Trust me when I say that this was a forced prayer and a perfect example of form following function because I was pretty annoyed about that fridge!
Then, I decided to check the swimming pool (love it and hate it). Pump was running, but not circulating water since the level was too low. I grabbed the hose and tried to "lock" in the nozzle to the on position. It was broken, so I tried to unscrew it. Got it 1/2 way off and then it got stuck and I couldn't get it back on all the way or off all the way.
I decided to drop the hose in the pool and let it trickle water in our 20,000 gallon pool for about 85 hours til it's up to level that the pump can run. In the meantime, I went to the front yard to water my potted flowers. Keeping in mind that I had decided to have a great day in spite of setbacks, I saw a monarch butterfly and a bumble bee, both of which amazed me with their colors and purpose.
I watered the pots and decided my flowers would look much better minus the jungle of weeds surrounding them. So, I started pulling weeds. It was early in the morning, and the heat and humidity hadn't set in yet (high of 93 today). I got bored in my weed pulling and tried to force my mind to "enjoy" it somehow. I focused on the eventual outcome which would be that my flowers would look so much better.
I pulled all the weeds that had smooth stems and saved the prickly ones for last. I hate those prickly weeds. But, here is what the prickly weeds taught me today..... I went in the house to get rubber gloves (which as it turns out, I should have been wearing the whole time because my nails looked like crap after I was done digging in the mulch and dirt yanking out these nasty weeds).
Ok, so I put on the gloves and gingerly reached for the lowest part of the stem on this huge prickly weed. I squeezed the stem between my index finger and thumb and felt the needles on the top of the weed, which was about a foot tall, brush against my forearm. I braced myself for the "tug o war" to conquer this menacing weed when to my surprise and nearly to my dismay, since I almost toppled over on my butt,.......the weed had a very weak root system and came out like butter. Those prickly needles were "all talk."
It reminded me of some unsavory characters that I come across from time to time (like the total strangers who give me the finger every time I drive down town Chicago - you know who you are!)
My day started out on the wrong foot. And, those problems still aren't solved, but I choose to have a good day anyway. I believe that God gave prickly weeds a tough exterior to hide their true weakness. Likewise, people who shoot the finger to perfectly nice drivers that find it a bit scary to drive in 12 lanes of traffic are actually showing their weakness. It takes more strength to "let it go," smile and move on.
BTW, I just ate about a cup of chocolate chip cookie dough which also makes all the issues of the day fade away! :0)
I started the coffee and opened the fridge for creamer only to discover my fridge was on the blink AGAIN! It was the third time in six weeks that our three year old refrigerator (yes the warranty just expired) quit working.
I transferred the milk, eggs, butter to the downstairs fridge and decided that I needed to choose to have a great day. So, I stopped and said a little prayer that went something like this:
"Dear Lord, if this was my last day on Earth, I wouldn't want to be ticked off about little insignificant things like clogged toilets and warm refrigerators, so I am choosing to have a great day. Please help me to do so."
Trust me when I say that this was a forced prayer and a perfect example of form following function because I was pretty annoyed about that fridge!
Then, I decided to check the swimming pool (love it and hate it). Pump was running, but not circulating water since the level was too low. I grabbed the hose and tried to "lock" in the nozzle to the on position. It was broken, so I tried to unscrew it. Got it 1/2 way off and then it got stuck and I couldn't get it back on all the way or off all the way.
I decided to drop the hose in the pool and let it trickle water in our 20,000 gallon pool for about 85 hours til it's up to level that the pump can run. In the meantime, I went to the front yard to water my potted flowers. Keeping in mind that I had decided to have a great day in spite of setbacks, I saw a monarch butterfly and a bumble bee, both of which amazed me with their colors and purpose.
I watered the pots and decided my flowers would look much better minus the jungle of weeds surrounding them. So, I started pulling weeds. It was early in the morning, and the heat and humidity hadn't set in yet (high of 93 today). I got bored in my weed pulling and tried to force my mind to "enjoy" it somehow. I focused on the eventual outcome which would be that my flowers would look so much better.
I pulled all the weeds that had smooth stems and saved the prickly ones for last. I hate those prickly weeds. But, here is what the prickly weeds taught me today..... I went in the house to get rubber gloves (which as it turns out, I should have been wearing the whole time because my nails looked like crap after I was done digging in the mulch and dirt yanking out these nasty weeds).
Ok, so I put on the gloves and gingerly reached for the lowest part of the stem on this huge prickly weed. I squeezed the stem between my index finger and thumb and felt the needles on the top of the weed, which was about a foot tall, brush against my forearm. I braced myself for the "tug o war" to conquer this menacing weed when to my surprise and nearly to my dismay, since I almost toppled over on my butt,.......the weed had a very weak root system and came out like butter. Those prickly needles were "all talk."
It reminded me of some unsavory characters that I come across from time to time (like the total strangers who give me the finger every time I drive down town Chicago - you know who you are!)
My day started out on the wrong foot. And, those problems still aren't solved, but I choose to have a good day anyway. I believe that God gave prickly weeds a tough exterior to hide their true weakness. Likewise, people who shoot the finger to perfectly nice drivers that find it a bit scary to drive in 12 lanes of traffic are actually showing their weakness. It takes more strength to "let it go," smile and move on.
BTW, I just ate about a cup of chocolate chip cookie dough which also makes all the issues of the day fade away! :0)
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