The last couple of weeks weren’t the greatest, and I wrote about how all I could do was show up, push on and get those things done, which needed doing. I spent a lot of time on Rudyard Kipling’s monumental poem, “If,” so much so that I ended up posting the whole thing.
Good times come and go, bad times come and go and life has its emotional ups and downs. As the years go by, I’m more and more convinced that one of the great secrets to a happy life is an attitude of gratitude.
I’m sitting here, on Sunday night, completing my Saturday post, with my four month posting streak broken.
What happened?
I forgot to take my electronics bag to the cottage, so I had no access to the website. Oh, I might have been able to get something up, it would have been quite a hassle, and time consuming to do it, but I wasn’t up there to maintain my publishing streak, I was there to play with my boys.
Now, if this happened a couple of years ago, it might have led to the New Year’s Resolution breakdown cycle.
- Start strong
- Miss one day because of reasons
- Promise to make it up, but don’t
- Promise that the one miss will be the only one, but
- That one miss leads to another, because you have accepted a small failure, which
- Leads to another miss, and the end of the resolution.
- Usually by January 15th
Okay, let’s be honest, this did happen a couple of years ago, and it did lead to the New Year’s Resolution breakdown cycle, and 6 months or so without posting.
Not this time
Once I realized what had happened, first thing I did was console my 6 y/o. He was distressed because the bag also contained his phone charger, and he didn’t think he’d be able to play Minecraft with his brothers and cousin.
Next thing was to tell my wife, “Well, there goes the streak.”
Wonderful woman that I married then told me that just because I couldn’t publish, didn’t mean I couldn’t write, I’d just have to get out the ol’ pen and paper. We laughed about it and determined that I would learn how to dictate notes into my iPhone and then transcribe them today.
Funny enough, my brother in law had pretty much the exact same attitude. “There’s ways around that, Andrew,” he said.
Fortunately, I didn’t need their cheering up because the next thing for me was to realize, I really wasn’t all that assed about losing my streak. You see, it’s something completely artificial. It doesn’t matter what exact time I post this, it only matters that I create it.
I love writing these little missives. I take a great deal of pleasure in dropping my thoughts on this little blog, for very few to see. It’s not about the posting, it’s about the process.
And I’m grateful.
I’m grateful for my family and my health. I’m also grateful all the twists and turns, failures, stubbed toes and gut punches that have taught me to be grateful.
I’m grateful to have people in my life that wanted to pick me up, in case I was feeling down.
I’m grateful to have the time to be able to spend with them.
And I’m grateful for so much more.
It is this attitude of gratitude that helps me get through the bad patches. Knowing I have so many reasons to celebrate makes getting through the bad times, the times when my biochemistry and bad wiring make just getting through the day so hard, easier.
What about you? What are you grateful for?
