Yesterday I woke up tense and the day just kept going from there in that vein. I started getting breakfast ready, and noticed someone in a government car taking a picture of my back yard. She zoomed off before I could ask her what she was doing, then my son saw her taking a picture of the front. I couldn’t imagine why she was taking pictures, but thinking about it was getting me nervous. I was outside when she zoomed by again so I flagged her down to find out what was going on. She told me we were in violation of some code because we had two small kitchen cabinets leaning against our garage. I pointed out that bulk trash pick up was scheduled for the next morning, but she said they shouldn’t be out until 6 am the next morning. I think she realized how pathetic that sounded because she then said we had piles of debris all over the yard. I was like, what are you talking about?? since we did a major clean up of the yard a couple of weeks ago and it looks pretty good. I asked her to specifically tell me what was a problem, and she claimed we had piles of boards on our deck and it was a breeding ground for rats. Turns out we had one 2×4 and one piece of countertop (which we were in the process of moving to the garage)- not quite a rat’s breeding ground, but the government will get their money from the fine so they’re happy. The irony is that the house across the alley has a huge pile of boards leaning against their house, but she didn’t stop to fine them. I wasn’t going to point that out and get someone else fined, but it’s a truism that I sometimes tell my kids – life isn’t fair so you have to get used to it.
Then my kids tell me there’s water leaking from the big freezer – turns out to be a sewer backup. Then we see stuff coming up from the basement bathroom. Ah, delightful. I call the city and they tell me they’ll be out within 24 hours. 24 hours is a long time when there’s raw sewage flooding the basement. And I do mean flooding.
When I took my husband to the train, I was grumbling about the nonsensical rules and random enforcement of rules by our city government. Then told him how fed up I was of having to stay on top of everyone all the time for things to get done. He asked me if that was always a problem, so I told him, ‘No, I’m in a lousy mood and overtired and everything is bugging me.” As soon as I said that, I realized I had a serious need to reframe my attitude, and suddenly remembered something I got just a couple of weeks ago.
It is a piece of card stock folded in six, each sixth with an inspiring message on it. The one I thought of is called, Acceptance, and I find this incredibly powerful to read out loud. It’s taken from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, but has been printed up in many other venues. I pulled it out and read it out loud to myself at the next traffic light. I find this so powerful and helpful that I want to share it with you:
‘Acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing or situation – some fact of my life unacceptable to me and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment. Nothing, absolutely nothing happens in God’s world by mistake; unless I accept life completely on life’s terms, I cannot be happy. I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and in my attitudes.’
Isn’t that wonderful? I just love those concepts, and it immediately snapped me out of my funk. Hope it helps you, too!
Avivah
