When You Think You Have It Bad

 WHEN YOU THINK YOU HAVE IT BAD

There are people who would love to have your bad days. This is a fact. A reality that I need to keep in my mind when I am feeling sorry for how bad things are going my way. Some of my last week brought this to my attention when I complained out loud about things that go wrong usually happen in threes! First, we had Xfinity go whacko. We have the bundle package so we had no landline phone, no cable tv and no internet. If you ever have had to deal with calling Xfinity and getting non-humans for the first 15 minutes, and holding, you know how frustrating it is. Finally, a live human came on the line only to tell us that it was no one else in our area that lost the signal so it was in our home only. They could send out a technician on Wednesday. The landline I can do without. Actually, the only one who uses it is Steve when he calls overseas and at least 4 - 6 robo-calls come in daily. Almost 3 days of no internet was driving us crazy. I had to use my IPhone(which has At&T internet service built in for a certain amount of money) to order groceries and really to do most everything else. The print is a bit small for me to use it successfully. (By this stage of writing this blog, I am feeling like a spoiled brat!)

 Next,  we had our pool pump go out and therefore the top of the pool was looking like the floor of a forest...leaves everywhere, which was turning the water a bit murky. Of course this happened on a Friday afternoon. Our pool company closes at noon on Friday so there was no way to get in touch with them until 8:00AM on Monday. 

 With a bit of a chill in the air, Steve turned on the gas fireplace. That always takes the chill away nicely without turning up the heat. When he went in to his laptop, he noticed that the fire was out and asked if I turned it off. I had not, so he quickly went over to it and switched that off. He put in a call to our Fireplace Company and talked with the owner. He could come out on Tuesday evening. We have electric heat so this was not a 'must have now' situation. By the weather forecast we should only have a couple of chilly days to use it so I think we will be fine.

I was just thinking to myself how many people would trade their problems for mine. I have a pool, I have a beautiful gas fireplace, I have computers, Wi-fi, Xfinity, Disney channel and 200 plus more?

If you remember, I started this blog by explaining things that happen usually come in threes. Well, Friday, the fourth thing happened. Steve and I had our yearly eye doctor appointments. His eyes have not changed. I knew that I needed a little stronger lens and my eyes seemed to not be responding to the dry eye drops that my doctor wrote a prescription for. Well, to make a long story short, there was a reason for this. It is called cataracts. In both eyes. I am not sure why exactly, but it hit me hard. I felt like I needed to be given a moment to digest it all. My eye doctor is a wonderful man and explains everything in terms that I can understand. I still needed to let it all come together in my head. So what did I do? Steve and I got in the car to go home and I just cried. How crazy is that? It is a relatively easy procedure that people go through all the time with great success. Even to the extent of possibly not even needing to wear glasses/contacts. How good is that? 

Being the kind of google person that I am, I went on line and there it was in black and white. Yes, things were going blurry on me. Reading and doing crossword puzzles were becoming a chore which was driving me crazy. However, I was under the belief that I was just needing a new prescription. 

Fourth event in my life causing slight difficulties. I am now using the word slight. Talking about our problems is our greatest addiction. It takes a person to stop being negative and talk about all of the joys and gratitudes that they experience. I may not be able to calm whatever "storm" is going on in my life but I can stop trying to and just calm myself instead. This too shall pass. No matter how good or bad I have it, waking up each day just being thankful for my life. Somewhere there is someone who is desperately fighting for theirs. In other words it does not matter if the glass is half empty or half full...be grateful that I have a glass and that there is something in it.

Even in the present time that we are living in we need to put our own problems in perspective. I did come across a great quote from Teddy Roosevelt. "Complaining about a problem without posing a solution is called whining." It is ok to give yourself the acknowledgement that there is a problem. What is more important is to find out if there is something that you can do about it or feel about it. We all have gratitudes to be thankful for.

 With Thanksgiving coming up this week, we will most likely be celebrating it in a different way than all the years before. There are ways to stay safe from COVID-19 and start some new traditions. Find what works for you. We are zooming with family and picking up a curbside dinner for the two of us, along with a little champagne.