Today I am sitting in my house watching the plumber fix my leaking sink. What does that have to do with resistance? Well, here's my thought: Resistance is not only about fighting the powers that be, but also our own negative thoughts. So let me take you back four days and explain. (Cue fairy music in your head)...
On Thursday we were spending our last day of a wonderful vacation watching "Micky's Fanstasmic" at Hollywood Studios Florida.. It had been a great week at Disney World having fun and enjoying the blessings we have been blessed with. (ring...ring...ring...that's my cell phone) I answer and on the other end is the young man watching our house and cat calling to say there's a pretty bad leak in the kitchen. It really wasn't that bad, but when you're 15 hours away in another state and unable to be in "control" of the situation, your mind goes to a dark place, but we were in the middle of a very noisy display of Disney wonder and I had to wait a couple of hours before being able to call back and find out what was going on.
Now, those of you who know me, know that I am a bit of a control freak and not being able to deal with a situation like this was very difficult. However! The young man watching the house had turned off the water to the faucet and cleaned up the water mess, so I took a deep breath and, as they say, "let go and let God." When we returned to the hotel I talked with him and it wasn't as bad as my mind had imagined. (Go figure a writer who imagined something worse than it was). He called my dad the next day and Dad checked it out, and basically said, "yep there was a leak and James did a great job taking care of it...oh and we probably just needed a new faucet."
Well, good. I realized since there was really nothing I could do, I enjoyed the last day of vacation with my family and returned home. YIKES. The water had soaked into the cabinet and since it held a heavy bucket of dishwashing tabs, had bowed a bit. However, no water leaked down to the basement or seemed to hurt the actual subflooring so I said, "Thank you God...and thank you James."
The next issue was we had returned on a Saturday, so my kitchen faucet did not work for *gasp* two whole days. I wasn't going to call an emergency plumber after all. I had to fill a basin with water, bring it to the sink, wash the dishes, then dump the water, return to the bathroom to fill the basin again with clear water to rinse the dishes, return to the sink and rinse. Well! what a chore. I had to walk a whole nine yards back and forth to fetch water.
I could have gotten upset and whined about my vacation being ruined by this annoying turn of events. "why, oh why, did this have to happen to me?" But, instead I focused on the good...no wonderful week, I had just spent with my family. I thought about the orphans I help in Uganda walking a mile to bring basic water to their home. I thought about the fact at least I had pipes that the water could run down. And I counted my blessings instead of cursing my circumstances.
I have been so blessed in this world and I thank God, my husband, my children, my parents, and my friends for all the happiness I have. I had to resist the urge to get upset about a negative and focus on all the positives, and now I have a very nice, capable plumber fixing my sink and putting in a new faucet, I'll soon have running water to my kitchen sink (and not have to walk *gasp* the whole nine yards to the bathroom sink anymore).
So to my original point. Resistance comes in all forms. This weekend I resisted the temptation to see the worst instead of remembering the best. I wonder if all of us tried to see our blessings as well as our curses if we wouldn't be a little happier in our situations. Remember there is always someone who has it worse somewhere. From the people who don't have family to be with or the funds to go on vacation; to the people who don't have faucets for their water. I am blessed...and at least for now am resisting the urge to let a small set back take my joy.
