When bad things happen to us, it’s easy to think you’re being targeted. “Why me?” comes to mind, as though God or the Universe has specifically pointed a finger at this one human being for punishment out of the billions on the planet. It’s supremely egotistical to think this way, especially when at any given time on this globe there are plenty of folks having a hard time of it.
This past weekend I was working on a project in my basement office. At one point I’d used the downstairs toilet. After about an hour or so, my coffee was barking at me so it was time to make a pit stop again. This time my stockinged feet landed in about three inches of water surging out of the bathroom- so I rushed in to find that the entire room was floating in a small ocean. In fact, my basement was in the process of being flooded. I was able to get the toilet to stop running, but not in time to stop the water from creeping into my office, the extra office, the extra bedroom and pretty much everywhere else. Sigh.
I called my insurance company which was quite happy to open up a claim. Within minutes I got a call from a guy who politely informed me that while they were also quite happy to help, there was no water mitigation contractor within their system to help me out. Anyone who’s been following Colorado news is well aware that there are a whole lot of folks who not only have a bit of water in their basements right now, they don’t have basements at all, much less a home to sleep in. I called the alternate they provided, and was told that I might get a phone call later this week, long after the water has done much more serious damage. It already smells hinky down there. But the truth is, I still have a basement, a roof over my head, and I live on high enough ground so that the flooding isn’t a danger to me. The inconvenience of a stinky carpet is nothing by comparison and hey, I didn’t like the Berber down there anyway.
Last December, my girlfriend Soni and I had met for dinner. My boyfriend had just ended our relationship for the umpteenth time and she was unattached. We were bemoaning the fact until I pointed out that – it was December 14th- there were a great many people in Sandy Hook who would never, ever have a Merry Christmas ever again, and that perhaps our little issues weren’t that big a deal by comparison. She agreed, and we went on to discuss more important issues.
The chaos of life is just that: chaos. There is no unpredictable Greek god sitting amidst the clouds pointing lightning bolts at out butts to annoy us out of spite. Life just happens. Here in Colorado Mother Nature is wreaking havoc with many lives and she’s taken some from us. By comparison, a capricious toilet is nothing. It pays to keep in mind that no one gets singled out for special treatment. It’s how we talk to ourselves about it, gain perspective and wisdom, and especially a sense of humor about life’s vicissitudes that make us useful to each other. Invariably we will encounter others who have undergone something worse, or who need our perspective. And that’s when we will understand why we experienced the challenges that we did: they help us to serve someone else. Our WordFood of perspective to someone else who is suffering makes all the difference in the world.