Rely on others
The last two mornings, I’ve gotten out of bed, poured a cup of coffee and headed for the back yard. Didn’t look through my email. Didn’t check out Sports Center. I DID do my morning stretches, but that’s it. I headed to my little weekend oasis. I don’t have a big sprawling lot with all kinds of room and wildlife, but I have enough. Truth be told, I have more than I deserve and more than enough.
Once I get to the bottom stair on my deck, I have to take about 10 steps in the grass to get to my patio.It’s been damp the last few nights with temps in the low 60’s here in central Ohio. Without shoes on, I tiptoe through the dew-soaked grass and make my way to the patio. That’s where I take my seat. No phone, no book, no problems. Just me, my coffee and the occasional bunny or bird.
It’s at times like these, that I really want to appreciate all that I have. I get to have a job, a house and a car. I get to have a beautiful wife. I get to have three awesome kids that make me look good. I get to have friends that care about me no matter what. I get to have a birthday. On top of all of that, I get to have problems. Wait…what? You heard me, I get to have the problems like you have. I get to have problems that involve senseless worry over things that I have no control over. I get to have problems that sometimes consume my thoughts. I get to have problems that sometimes don’t belong to me. That’s where I struggle. This is ruining my morning.
We all have problems of some sort. Whether they’re manifested or manufactured, we all have them. Some of them come from our own mistakes. Some come from others and even some come from the evil one. One of my dad’s favorite sayings was, “if you never do anything, you’ll never make a mistake.” There’s a lot of truth to that. Life is about continually learning and growing. One of the best ways to learn is to make some mistakes. The real judge of your character is what do you do, once you’ve made them. Once you’ve made a mistake or two, you’ll remember that and grow from the experience.
Before the learning process can happen, you have to rely on others to:
- Inform you that a mistake was made (sometimes it’s not obvious)
- Counsel with you on how to make reparations (making decisions in a vacuum is rarely a good idea)
- Walk with you through the process (the load is much lighter with more shoulders to carry)
- Pray for you in times of darkness
So, who are these others that you can rely on? They are the ones that I first started to show appreciation for.
- My beautiful wife
- Three awesome kids that make me look good.
- My friends that care about me no matter what.
- My spawling family
- …the list goes on…
The point is to remember to be thankful for the positive aspects of your life and not dwell on the problems. We all have problems. Because no matter how much goodness we have, we’d always like more. No matter how happy and healthy we are, we’re always worried about that next bug. We’re always disinfecting our lives, worried about what we can’t see. We worry about the health and happiness of our extended family and friends. We want to see them all happy and healthy, as well. We worry that we’re too worried. It can be maddening.
My prayer for you is that you “have enough” and can see through the would-be problems. Let’s call this my gift to you.
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As always – well said.
Thank you!
Thanks for this. I needed this today.
That’s always good to hear!