I try to be a good person. I really do. I like to buy strangers coffee in the Starbucks line. I open doors for people I don’t know. I pick up trash in other people’s yards. I like to do these things honestly because I believe what goes around comes around and I want good things to come around to me.
Well a few days ago while I was at my gym someone decided to start my 4th of July weekend off by shattering my car window and stealing my purse. The police were called, I cancelled my cards, yada yada. I was genuinely upset about the inexpensive items in there that can’t be replaced. Like movie tickets from the entire time Todd and I have been dating, a fun ring my Grandma left me that isn’t exactly expensive but means so much to me, pictures of my nephews, and of course the pain-in-the-booty things to replace like my license and insurance. Annoyed.
This incident set the mood for the rest of my three-day weekend. It felt like one thing after another; locking my keys in my house and not having a way in, my power steering going out of the car that is already dangerous to drive, holiday plans being cancelled, etc. Annoyed times 10.
I was in a “poor me, why me” mood for days and I couldn’t snap out of it.
I was sitting at my office desk a little bit ago, texting some friends about rides to work tonight (Have I mentioned I have a second job? I’ve waitressed/hostessed and now managed at a local restaurant for 5 years now and I still love it). I was feeling like a pain since forgetting my waitress clothes at home meant not only did I need a ride to work but I needed a ride back home just to change and then bring me back downtown to the restaurant that is less than a mile from my office job. Annoyed times 20.
When I was telling a friend about this inconvenience her response was “oh I can pick you up and do that no problem at all! What time should I be there?”
This was a different friend than the one who gave me a ride to work this morning and a different one than had offered to bring me lunch since I couldn’t drive anywhere.
Her response made me stop and genuinely think about the situation and mood I’ve allowed myself to be in for days.
How wonderful is it that I could think of so many friends and family who offered their help or eagerly accepted when I came to them? Not many people are in a position where their friends are always able to do that, so this is good that I’m in this spot and not someone else.
This line of thinking brought on a positive snowstorm affect. I started back tracking my whole weekend. What if it had been someone else’s car that got broken in to instead? I had no cash in my wallet and my credit cards were easily cancelled; the thieves got away with hardly anything. It COULD have been a single mother who had just cashed her paycheck so she was able to buy groceries for the holiday weekend. Instead it was me. It could have been a disaster, instead it’s an inconvenience.
The thieves COULD have stolen my car and this whole situation would have been a lot messier, or someone COULD have been hurt. They weren’t.
All in all this entire situation was pretty irrelevant to the story of my life and I need to look at the positive side; look what I learned. I think this was a lesson God wanted me to learn. Not to get frustrated and give up, I can try to be a good person and Christian and it doesn’t mean that when bad things happen God is punishing me. In those sucky times I need to lean on God even more and try to figure out how I can grow instead of sulking and obsessing.
I’m not going to go as far as saying I would like to take the thieves to dinner and thank them once they’re caught. I’m not THAT crazy. But I am thankful to them that through this they have given me a new sense of gratitude for the people I love and for my faith in God.
Well a few days ago while I was at my gym someone decided to start my 4th of July weekend off by shattering my car window and stealing my purse. The police were called, I cancelled my cards, yada yada. I was genuinely upset about the inexpensive items in there that can’t be replaced. Like movie tickets from the entire time Todd and I have been dating, a fun ring my Grandma left me that isn’t exactly expensive but means so much to me, pictures of my nephews, and of course the pain-in-the-booty things to replace like my license and insurance. Annoyed.
This incident set the mood for the rest of my three-day weekend. It felt like one thing after another; locking my keys in my house and not having a way in, my power steering going out of the car that is already dangerous to drive, holiday plans being cancelled, etc. Annoyed times 10.
I was in a “poor me, why me” mood for days and I couldn’t snap out of it.
I was sitting at my office desk a little bit ago, texting some friends about rides to work tonight (Have I mentioned I have a second job? I’ve waitressed/hostessed and now managed at a local restaurant for 5 years now and I still love it). I was feeling like a pain since forgetting my waitress clothes at home meant not only did I need a ride to work but I needed a ride back home just to change and then bring me back downtown to the restaurant that is less than a mile from my office job. Annoyed times 20.
When I was telling a friend about this inconvenience her response was “oh I can pick you up and do that no problem at all! What time should I be there?”
This was a different friend than the one who gave me a ride to work this morning and a different one than had offered to bring me lunch since I couldn’t drive anywhere.
Her response made me stop and genuinely think about the situation and mood I’ve allowed myself to be in for days.
How wonderful is it that I could think of so many friends and family who offered their help or eagerly accepted when I came to them? Not many people are in a position where their friends are always able to do that, so this is good that I’m in this spot and not someone else.
This line of thinking brought on a positive snowstorm affect. I started back tracking my whole weekend. What if it had been someone else’s car that got broken in to instead? I had no cash in my wallet and my credit cards were easily cancelled; the thieves got away with hardly anything. It COULD have been a single mother who had just cashed her paycheck so she was able to buy groceries for the holiday weekend. Instead it was me. It could have been a disaster, instead it’s an inconvenience.
The thieves COULD have stolen my car and this whole situation would have been a lot messier, or someone COULD have been hurt. They weren’t.
All in all this entire situation was pretty irrelevant to the story of my life and I need to look at the positive side; look what I learned. I think this was a lesson God wanted me to learn. Not to get frustrated and give up, I can try to be a good person and Christian and it doesn’t mean that when bad things happen God is punishing me. In those sucky times I need to lean on God even more and try to figure out how I can grow instead of sulking and obsessing.
I’m not going to go as far as saying I would like to take the thieves to dinner and thank them once they’re caught. I’m not THAT crazy. But I am thankful to them that through this they have given me a new sense of gratitude for the people I love and for my faith in God.
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