There is usually excitement and celebration when ringing in the New Year and kicking the old one to the curb.
Each year does have its moments to celebrate . . . but for some reason we’re always looking forward to something new with hope and promise of better things.
I’m not so sure what would be better for me . . . I’m not into New Year Resolutions . . . I prefer to be as positive as possible and attract as much goodness as feasible flowing to me. I don’t know the form it will take . . . And I must realize that something not so good can become a definite blessing. So, don’t judge too quickly or too harshly when something discouraging or disappointing falls in your life.
A few years ago I was chatting with one of my neighbors who said, “this can be a learning opportunity.”
I don’t remember the context of our discussion, but that phrase stood out for me and I tucked it away to ponder at some other time.
This simple statement seemed to be a sort of prophesy for me. Just about everyday something would bring that phrase to mind. A learning opportunity — how can this be?
I suppose every day we can learn something new . . . But I don’t think this was the purpose. It seemed more personal. I thought instead of grumbling about something, I could view it as an opportunity to learn something.
So, when my air conditioner went out on the hottest day possible and a Friday night to boot . . . How can this be a learning opportunity?
For one thing I knew who to call . . . I opened up the windows and sliders to air out the house . . . It seemed that quite a few people in town had the same issue of no air conditioning which meant I may have quite a wait before a repair could be made.
I tried different techniques to make my little dog and me as comfortable as possible.
I stopped thinking about how miserable we were and focused on our many blessings . . . we were on the repair list . . . we had fans . . . ice . . . cold water . . .
I stopped grumbling and began to feel a bit more comfortable, just by thinking more positively about what I did have and what I could do.
Then the call came telling me a repairman would be arriving in the next 20 minutes.
That was great and wonderful!! Twenty minutes plus the repair time . . . Hoooraaaayyyyyyy!!!
So, the lesson was to lighten up and be grateful . . . No good came to grumbling . . .
The reason I was bumped up was because some unfortunately person had to wait a couple of days for a part to come in . . . It did not feel good that my good fortune was due to someone else’s misfortune. This wasn’t anything I would wish for anyone else. I would hope no one would have air conditioning problems on hot hot hot summer days.
Well, from previous “learning opportunities” I’ll continue with those lessons and apply them to 2018 and all the new years to come.
Happy New Year!!
Sharon
