Dear Universe...Thank You
Ever find yourself in the midst of a day that had you questioning everything in your life?
I hate those days.
Today has been one (and the day is barely half through). I have a number of things that are constant stressers in my life, and today in addition to the usual cast of characters, I found myself panicking over a homework assignment, crashing on a deadline, and then having a fight with someone I care a great deal about.
Shouldn't be a big deal, and it isn't...yet it is.
So here I am at work, despising the fact that it’s an effort not to just curl up and break down, because that has come too easily and too often lately, and finding some completely Sylvia Plath-worthy poetry coming to mind. While ordinarily I give in to whatever words my muse wants me to pen, not today.
Today, I instead decided to clean off my desk. In doing so, found a humorous note written to me years ago by one of the kids I adore. Then I moved to the rest of my office and read some notes my kid left on my dry erase board when he was here last week, which included “WATER” (in all caps because I’m always dehydrated) and some To Dos such as “Win lottery” and “Get A+ in everything” and, my personal favorite, “Hugs Not Drugs”.
Ok kid.
So I was chuckling a little and began to feel a little better.
Then a colleague e-mailed that I win for having the best written bio in the office. Not sure I buy that, but the compliment made me smile.
Then my doctor’s office called to verify some info and I had a super pleasant conversation with the scheduler.
Then I went to the bank to make a deposit, had a very in-depth discussion over the fact that the assistant manager had so neatly stacked their container of dog biscuits (did you know your pooch is welcome in TD Bank?) in a slightly OCD, but super amusing manner, met a new head teller who thanked me for providing entertainment to a dreary day, and got 3 compliments on my dress.
Lastly, one of my bestest, most awesomest, most amazing friends texted me with baseball tickets.
Bringing me here…and now…to writing this.
Mmmmkay Universe, message received.
Here’s the thing – life is going to throw things at you. There are going to be pressures and issues and struggles. Some are daily, some pop up for no reason. Sometimes you handle them perfectly, and sometimes they are too much. You are going to have conflicts and fights with people you love. You are going to have things happen that make you question everything about yourself.
And you will survive.
The question isn’t whether these things happen. It’s what do you do when they do?
Sometimes, yes, we cry and think about giving up and giving in. But the important thing to remember is that you may not have control over what happens, but you have complete control over how you react to it. And if you stop and look around, the Universe oftentimes will provide you answers (or at least distractions) to your problems to help you turn it all around.
The constant stressers are still there. My homework assignment, well I’ll deal with it as best I can and that’s it. The fight with the loved one is done as far as I’m concerned, and if they carry on with it, that’s on them. But right now, in spite of the things that give me reason to frown, I’m going to smile anyway. I’m going to remember that I am a strong, positive, wonderful woman…with tickets to see her beloved Nats play tonight, so nothing can keep me down.
In the midst of the storms of your life, just remember this:
