Who’s got pain today? Misery? Agony, despair…? (Doesn’t that sound like a song? It’s got to be a song…see my blog, “Rainbows on Kittens”.) I saw a cartoon on Facebook captioned: “Having a bad day?”. The cartoon drawing was of a prisoner digging down and out of prison. He’d gotten a little way and was quite hopeful, but what we could see that he could not was that he was heading straight for an outhouse pit. Outdoor toilet “storage” for you youngsters – yes, the poop, etc. sits in the ground in a pit slowly degrading, poop upon poop. Unlike its modern counterpart the portable, plastic one, it never gets emptied and cleaned out. Think about that for a minute. I’m very visual, so yuck, yuck, and more yuck for the cartoon guy.
The primary point, of course, (at least what I got) is that when we want to be free from hard times, it might be best to wait it out, to mull our way through the time we’re in, and that we should remember that it could be worse. (Yes, the cartoon character was in jail, but at least he had clean air, 3 meals a day, a clean body…and he wasn’t suffocating under bodily refuse.) It helps to grasp our situation for what it is – whether we got ourselves there or not – to do what we can to make it go as smoothly as possible, but to also count our blessings as we go. If you’ve had a pile of crap land on you recently – plumbers in particular understand this – count your blessings. We all go through hardships and sometimes have to deal with difficult situations or people, but most things are fixable over time, and we can learn from the journey. If we dwell on the past, the hurts, the negative, then we become negative. We will slowly create a depressed, angry, possibly bitter, sometimes mean version of ourselves. The person we were NOT meant to be. Focusing on the good will help us be happier, more peaceful and able to handle the situation much better. It’s all about focus. Where are our eyes, our thoughts? Are we blindly paddling down a river that has dangerous falls ahead? Or are we thoughtfully weighing our options and the best and worst possible outcomes before jumping headlong in whatever mass of “water” is in front of us?
Speaking of outhouses, [TANGENT ALERT!!] I remember my step grandma fondly reminiscing over one Halloween when some of the local teens put the family’s outhouse on top of their barn (I can’t imagine how they got it there – or why they chose the outhouse!). She was able to remember it fondly because at the end of her story, she said, “Of course, they came back the next day and took it down.” I had a good laugh over the tale, but it also made me think. Can you imagine anyone doing such a prank these days and then being polite – and kind – enough to come the next day and set it to rights? We have definitely lost a lot of our “polite society”. Not that that’s all bad; I love the openness of these younger generations. Sets us all free a little. Still, there’s something to be said about doing the right thing, the nice thing, and still having a little fun along the way. [Tangent over.]
If that cartoon guy manages to get to the outhouse pit, he’s going to have to go through a lot of shit to gain his freedom, but sometimes that’s what happens in real life. If you’re swimming in crap right now, no worries. Just keep working your way through it – there’s light somewhere at the end of the tunnel and freedom on the other side. The thing is, sometimes we have to go through our present “crap” to come out stronger and cleaner. Many lessons are learned only by going through it, instead of trying to skirt our way out or around it. However we handle it, let’s count our blessings…it could be worse. The outhouse pit could be just around the corner, and it might be possible to avoid the worst of it if our eyes are on a positive plan – an opportunity to get through, to make the best of it, to thrive despite the present difficulties. One of my favorite quotes I’ve told myself time and again is, “This too shall pass”. And I’ve learned it is true. Eventually, all things change. Whether it’s the situation or ourselves.
Let's live in the present, calculate the pitfalls in a decision or direction (without worrying about the future), do our best to see trials as opportunities, and while we’re waiting for the worst be over, let's invite a good friend over for some coffee or buy some flowers; friends and flowers brighten the space we’re in and both the coffee and flowers will elevate some of the stink in life.
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