Pushing Through the Small Stuff

I started this post a day ago ...

Here we go again! The ceremonial turning of the calendar page, finding us one month closer to spring has put a bit of a spring in my step this morning. Troubleshooting my phone's ability to download pictures and sending off a required monthly report has cleared my early morning slate. Well, it isn't so "early morning" any more but at least those jobs are done.

Then life stepped and the day was gone. And here I am again ...

Life has been doing a lot of that lately. "Stepping in", actually it feels a little more like "cutting in". Just when I think I have a minute to sit aside and think some thoughts and write them down I think of something else I should be doing, something distracts me or I simply walk away in mid thought like I did yesterday morning.

I've been going with the flow of life and life continues to flow in a forward direction whether I like it or not. Mostly, I like it.

I'm not a big fan of this troubleshooting phase which seems to have infiltrated every corner of my secluded little world. I have even had to "reboot" the dishwasher recently, fought with the vacuum cleaner, not to mention the ongoing saga with my credit card (and now even banking) transactions and all of the other gadgetry which surprise me with new glitches on a regular basis.

The amazing part of "all of the above" is that other than needing to call in a serviceman to replace our oven element (when a stripped screw and business hours the same as mine made it impossible for me to tackle this on my own), I have been able to fix all that ails our home and all its gadgets without spending a penny. At the moment, I am stretching a pair of perfectly good jeans that have become to small for my growing son and they have grown over an inch so far (my friend tells me to stretch them with each and every washing and she has stretched a pair of jeans up to six inches).

Life can have some annoying little hiccups but as long as we can get through these little challenges (and really, anything that doesn't involve one's health and emotional well being is "small stuff"), one trouble at a time these are really little more than character building moments, akin to the frustration of untangling Christmas lights.

Yes, I wouldn't mind a break from the endless list of "things going wrong" around here, but anything that can be fixed, replaced or one can live without is small potatoes in this big, scary world of problems without answers.

I will plug along and see what the day brings. Yesterday, a last minute invitation pushed me out of my world and well past my bedtime when I was invited to see a 9:00 movie with a friend. The movie was "Joy". I knew nothing about the premise of the movie when I sat down and it started to roll before my eyes. I was simply expecting a "joyful" movie. Which it was not. It is very much a movie about a woman who perseveres through the challenges of life in all of its dimensions. Just when you think she's got it made in the shade, another "glitch" arises. It is up to us to pick ourselves up, walk through the mire and go boldly towards a future we've dreamed of.

Today, my dreams are small. But if I keep troubleshooting my way through the small stuff, I'll keep building my stamina for the big stuff which could be around the next corner. For now, I'm grateful my troubles are nothing more than annoyance. Life is good.

"We got here from hard work, patience, and humility. Don't think the world owes you anything because the world owes you nothing." ~ Joy (from the movie "Joy")