How many times do my days go exactly as planned? And yet, I wake up each morning with the hope that everything I thought of doing or wrote down in my planner or up on the schedule board or just listed intangibly in my head will actually get accomplished! And what is my reaction when things get more and more off-track? Patient acquiescence and joyful acceptance? I wish I could sound such a trumpet of model compliance, but in reality, I find myself listening to the ugly twin heads of frustration and disappointment as they rise up in tandem to capture my attention! But, if I allow myself to gaze past these dragons, I realize that I am being a bit prideful in thinking that I can master the unknown circumstances and experiences of each day. I am not God, remember?! I have no idea what circumstances will happen to interrupt the smooth passage of my list of planned academic or recreational endeavors — perhaps an unexpected phone call that my hubby forgot important work papers and needs someone (yours truly) to bring the critical items to him — or a 9 year old boy (son of mine) starts to complain of a tummy ache and needs to spend the afternoon (that I had planned for academics and exercise) in bed — or perhaps I carelessly leave the faucet running downstairs in the kitchen because I am urgently summoned upstairs to clean up carpet-corroding-cat-vomit-from-our-indoor-cat-who-escaped-outdoors-and-ate-who-knows-what-forbodden-foliage and when I finally return downstairs, I find my kitchen floor a flood zone . . . How can I approach these unexpected “events” with an attitude that can lead to my growing in holiness instead of growing in sinfulness? Here are a couple of suggestions — kind of obvious, but I need constant reminding!
No. 1 — GRAB A HANDFUL OF GRATITUDE!
In other words, be thankful that things weren’t worse! I wrote a little book for my son entitled “Things could always be worse!” for the very purpose of helping him overcome his tendency to get VERY disappointed (in the realm of furious fits) when things didn’t go as he expected. This is a very practical and a very necessary reminder to help me cultivate the virtue of gratefulness for me and all of my family members.
No. 2, LOOK FOR WAYS TO MAKE LEMONADE OUT OF LEMONS!
“It was so nice to have a moment to see my husband during the day when he usually gets home late in the evening.” “The kitchen floor really did need a good washing after all.” “Let’s cuddle in bed with a new read-aloud to help you feel better!” Lord, help me to look at every so-called disaster, distraction or detour that happens during the course of an ordinary day as just the other side of Your gift of the coin called moment where one side is experience and the other side is blessing : )