The other day I ran across this –
O.M.G. You know how some thoughts, some phrases hit you just right, that they resonate, that you really get them? That one got me. I almost laughed out loud. It hit me at exactly the right place at exactly the right time. It was my life in a microcosm, and better yet, it fell on the day I was facing, and kind of dreading.
Ha! As soon as I read it, I could see my day potentially unfolding, if I could do it all, if I could stick to it. For a long time I’ve been a big believer in “the carrot,” that temptress that floated ahead of us, promising us a reward if we could do what we needed to do to catch it. Okay, maybe the greyhound and the rabbit. Whatever. But a motivation, a reason to move, to do, to overcome difficulties, to succeed. And when you did, there was the reward, whatever your “carrot” was.
So I knew all that, had even used it as motivation on occasion. B & I even joked about chasing the carrot occasionally. But this… this one really hit me. Now granted, the timing had something to do with it. I was sitting here with my morning coffee, thinking of what I might accomplish today, but not at all excited about actually doing it. And then I read this on facebook, and it really struck me, for it was true! If I could accomplish the things I was thinking of doing today, I would be happy! And the saying was right!
And so I started, started slowly, with the idea that, if I hit any unexpected snags along the way, I could finish tomorrow. For I needed to first take out the dead battery in my Mustang, then drive 15 miles to buy the new battery. Carrot here… after I bought the battery, I answered “the carrot” call, and had a good lunch at the best fresh seafood place in town.
Okay, so far, so good. 15 miles back to home to install the new battery. Started the Mustang up, it sounded fine, and I decided to drive the 15 miles back to Oak Harbor to get the material of the inside door repaired. After 4 phone calls I finally found a guy who said he could fix it. Got over there and after looking at it, he told me he couldn’t fix it, and instead gave me the GPS of a guy he knew that was another 8 miles out of town. Got out there and the guy was a specialist, all right, and booked me in for repair a week later.
I got home at 3 pm, my day completed. And it now really was my happy place! I had finally arrived at “the life I wanted!” And that particular life was simply to have the car fixed and running, to not have to deal with it any further, but rather come home to my La-Z-Boy with the news on and a fine Jameson’s in hand.
This “other side” has a lot more potential than just satisfying an annoying day’s activities just to get through it. I have some friends out there who are dealing with real problems, life problems, relationship problems, health problems, and they need time to work through them, time to solve them, time to recover from them. These are the people I know who can really use something that gives them the spirit and the personal courage to overcome their difficulties and get back to “the life they want.”
I can only hope they read this, and that it helps them in some way, moves them some way, to push a little harder for their success, to visualize their triumph over some difficulties that have nearly pushed them to their limit. Because if there is any positivity for the reader in a home brew blog like this, it must be found in, perhaps, a new or different perspective on life and its problems, a different path through the daily difficulties of our lives. I think any self-respecting blog should at least attempt to do this from time to time. And this is my attempt.
The life you want is on the other side of the shit you don’t want to do.
Steve Hulse
