In fact, Neal A. Maxwell said that "Too many of us seem to expect that life will flow ever smoothly, featuring an unbroken chain of green lights with empty parking places just in front of our destinations!"
Speaking of destinations... Just a couple of days ago, my husband and I purchased a car for him to drive to work on bad-weather days. We found a well kept Suzuki Forenza with brand new tires, a fine interior /exterior, and only 48,000 miles. It drove just fine too. The day after our purchase we took the car into a mechanic and found out from his inspection that we got sucked into buying a total lemon. He told us when he lifted the car to get a look underneath, there it was as plain as day, the engine had a huge crack! It was too late, we had signed the title already. We had run a CarFax report that came back clean and the ad said "excellent condition." But we were kicking ourselves for not taking it to our trusted mechanic before going through with the sale.
We spent a full day trying to converse with the sellers by phone, email, and texting. It really turned into a nightmare and by the end, our nerves were shot. We felt sucker-punched for being so foolish and it knocked us both into a slump. In our exhaustion we stopped and just held one another, took a deep breath and held each other a little more. I looked up at my husband and said, "We'll get through this. It's just a little hurdle, we'll get through this." It's interesting to me how certain situations can disturb our peace of mind and bind us down to needless anxiety.
On the good side, my dear sweet friend, Suzanne, left me a card on my porch with two movie tickets inside and a large package of Rolo's with a cute little pun encouraging Joseph and I to let this situation "roll" off our backs. Her gesture didn't fix the car but it fixed my perspective. I have so much to be grateful for, look at the awesome friends and family I have! Who cares about the stupid car! In a few months from now, none of this will really matter, it will all work out, we'll go on with life, and eventually forget about it.
So this was a set-back, a definite upset, yes... but the honest-to-goodness truth is that life rarely happens the way we plan. And really, when things do go wrong, the outcome never ends up being as bad as we expect it to be. We can always, always find plenty to be grateful for.
My friends, don't worry. be happy... it will soon pass - whatever it is. ;)
-Alicia
http://theplaceofbecoming.blogspot.com/2015/07/three-things-to-remember.html
“Most putts don’t drop. Most beef is tough. Most children grow up to be just people. Most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration. Most jobs are more often dull than otherwise.
“Life is like an old-time rail journey—delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed.
“The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride”
(“Big Rock Candy Mountains,” Deseret News, 12 June 1973, A4).
“One of the mistakes many of us make is that we feel sorry for ourselves, or for others, thinking that life should be fair, or that someday it will be. It's not and it won't. When we make this mistake we tend to spend a lot of time wallowing and/or complaining about what's wrong with life. "It's not fair," we complain, not realizing that, perhaps, it was never intended to be.”
(― Richard Carlson, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff ... and it's all small stuff.)
No comments:
Post a Comment