Yes ... I'm home again!  The car is still down and I was unable to find a ride to work, but I'm also breaking down and going to the doctor so it's a personal day.  The radiator guy was totally surprised when I called this morning to tell him that the car overheated yet again on our way home on Friday.  He obviously had not test-driven it.  Yes, I'm anxious to get it back, but getting it back FIXED is the goal!  So ... Dr appt then drop off the car ... again!

Ya know ... every one of us has "seasons" like this when it seems everything is against us.  I've been talking with my son about this ... There are two ways to respond to unpleasant circumstances:

1. The first way can manifest itself in a number of ways, but the root of it is bitterness.  "Why me?  Nothing ever goes right for us!"  This is frequently surrounded with anger, frustration, dispair, discouragement, and self-pity.  This is a natural course of our thoughts when things in our lives displease us or don't go according to our plans.  We get angry and begin to look about us for someone or something else to blame because it certainly cannot be our own fault.  The problem with this route is that may start out innocent enough, just frustrated because the check bounced or the car fender now has a crease.  But, if we linger there long enough, the frustration grows and contorts into other uglier creatures like resentment that can become lifelong attitudes.
   
   I've done some thinking on this matter over the years, and at some point, came to a remarkable discovery.  We make an amazing assumption early on in this life that somehow we're entitled to a "good" life.  Where does that come from and who defines "good?"  Why do we ask, "Why me?" as though for some unknown reason we, among all the people of the earth, should be marked for exclusion to discomfort or suffering.  A curious line of thinking ...
   
   
2. The second way to respond is much less natural.  It begins with an awareness of how, even at our best, we are not always "good" people, and that because we are not always "good" people, sometimes the consequences of our behaviors and thoughts catch up to us in unpleasent circumstances.  Not all the "bad" stuff comes at us for this reason, but if we start in this position, it is much easier to be thankful for the "good" that does come our way. 

It's a matter of perspective.  In attitude #1, we have a tendency to look down on our circumstances and judge them according to our plan.  From this perspective, for example, the glass will always look less than half full.

On the other hand, if we can assume attitude #2, at least sometimes, we will be amazed at the smallest pleasures as we look up in wonder.  The car may still be down & my body may be quite uncomfortable, but the sun is shining & the cardinals are singing ... and it's warmer today than yesterday.  The glass is most certainly at least half full!  There are many things I do not understand ... but, for now, this is enough.

~ B