Monthly Inspiration -Celebrating 10 Years

Inspiration, Reflections

Hello and welcome!

Sometime in April WordPress will send me a notice congratulating me on 10 years of blogging. It’s hard to believe that I (actually my daughter who helped me set up my blog) signed up with WordPress 10 years ago this month. After setting up the account my daughter designed the header on my page, that’s why you won’t see my orange, white and green header on another blog. Then I began playing around, setting up pages and widgets and such. It wasn’t until June that I actually got brave enough to publish my first post, which really didn’t say much.

Recently I’ve been looking back at some of my early posts, many of which have to do with soapmaking, the original intention of this blog. I did come across a post that I published in September 2015 that, according to my stats, has only been viewed 9 times and didn’t have any likes or comments. I thought it was a good post – maybe one of my favorites – so I decided to repost it here today as our monthly inspiration.

It Could Have Been A Bad day

September 8, 2015

When I got up Monday morning, and went to make a pot of coffee, I discovered that for some reason the coffee pot was not working. I tried jiggling the cord, flipping the switch a couple of times and even though the green light was on, indicting that it was getting power, nothing happened.  I unplugged it and plugged it back in. I left it on and walked away from it for a few minutes, as if I was going to somehow will it to work. It didn’t, and oh how disappointed I was that I wouldn’t have a cup of coffee to start the day. Can you imagine anything worse than having to start the day without that cup of coffee, that little, or big, (depending on how strong you like your coffee) boost of caffeine, to get you going. Does it get any worse?

Well, the truth is that, while my coffee pot did not work and I did try several things to get it to start and yes, I was pretty disappointed that I wasn’t going to have that first cup of coffee to start my day, this was nowhere near the worst thing that could have happened to me today.

You see, I had already woke up of my own free will, with no alarms to startled me awake, no emergency phone calls, and not even the dogs barking to wake me. When I woke I opened my eyes to see that it was nearly 8:00 a.m., so I knew that I could see. I could hear the blower from the air conditioner running, so I still had my hearing, the power was not off, and it was a comfortable temperature in the house. Before I got out of bed I kissed my husband and he kissed me and said “I love you,”. He too was alive. I stood up and all of my body parts seemed to be functioning fine.

As I walked out of the bedroom Scout wagged his tail at me and Trooper followed me to the living room and then waited for me to let him outside. The dogs were ok this morning.  When I went outside the sun was shining, it was a beautiful morning, and I thought about how much fun we had yesterday with so many family members and friends spending time with us at our farm. It was a really good time.

I decided to let my husband sleep while I went to the farm to let the chickens out for the day. Since I didn’t have my morning coffee, I grabbed a bottle of iced tea and took it with me. The van started and ran well, and I drove to the farm without incident. I was greeted at the farm by my second youngest daughter who had camped at the farm with a friend. She and Trooper went for a walk, while I tended the chickens. When I opened the coop, the chickens began piling out. I didn’t have to battle the rooster this morning, even though I didn’t stick around long for him to see that it was me there.

After chatting with my daughter for a few minutes I decided to go into town for coffee, so I asked if she wanted to go. We picked up coffee and breakfast for my husband and youngest daughter as well. Upon returning home, I was joined by my two youngest daughters on the deck for breakfast and coffee and a nice visit. These times with the girls don’t happen much anymore as they are busy with college and working and leading their own lives. Their older sisters are married with jobs and homes and responsibilities of their own. So I do value our times together.

The day went on with clean up at the farm, a siesta, a swim in the pond, a fun afternoon with my husband, and trip to Kmart to buy a new coffee pot.

I was blessed in so many ways, and I certainly can imagine many, many things worse than my coffee pot not making me my early morning cup of coffee. But our society is so dramatic and programmed to think negatively, that we let the little things that we take for granted become the big things that cause us stress. So many times I hear, or read, about things being “the worst thing that could happen” and I think “no, I can think of far worse things.” Often times, we or someone I know will have an issue, like a flat tire for example that is stressing them out, and my thought is “if this is the worst of my (or their) problems then I (they) should be on my (their) knees, thanking God.” I remember several years ago reading a blog that was written by a mother who was homeschooling her children. She was about to start teaching them algebra, and said she couldn’t imagine anything worse. My reply was, ” be thankful that you are not sitting in a hospital by their bedside, praying for them to wake up from a coma.”

I’ve said this prayer many times in my life, “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Well, the wisdom came when I realized that, for the most part, I can’t control people, the way they think, talk, or act. I also can’t control many situations; things like the coffee pot not working or a flat tire. What I can control is the way that I react. If I choose to react negatively then I will only cause myself stress. I will not have the serenity that I pray for. It may sound cliché “seeing the cup as half full instead of half empty”, “don’t cry over spilled milk”, or “count your blessings”, but I find that having a true realization of all the blessing that I have been given can minimalize my stress and help me deal with the “crises” of everyday life. Yes, I believe that attitude is everything.  I could have chosen to let my situation, and my disappointment, control my life, but instead I chose to make it a good day.

Thanks for visiting.

27 thoughts on “Monthly Inspiration -Celebrating 10 Years”

  1. I agree with every word! We have so many blessings that we’re in the habit of overlooking, and we spend far too much time trying to control other people. We can only control ourselves, but that is enough!

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  2. You made me think of an old balance scale with a broken coffee pot on one side and all those delightful blessings–over the course of just one day–on the other side! Yes, indeed, the blessings almost always outweigh our afflictions. Thank you for the joy-filled examples, Ruth.

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  6. I don’t remember this post from years ago, and I am glad that you shared it today. It is a perspective that I like being reminded of, one that I find works best. I can see you and the girls sitting on the deck, in my mind and it makes me smile. I am almost there with you all. Miss you.

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      1. I don’t know that we will be able to make it this summer. I would love to come in the fall, but we will have to see. How about a trip to the mountainous southwest? We have plenty of room, and the colors out here are very different from the ones in Michigan.

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      2. I’m just not a traveler. Vacations away from home tend to stress me out more than relax me. Stress is something I really try to avoid since it does make my PD symptoms worse. I do love you though. 💖

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  8. 10 years wow, congratulations!! Just imagine how many lives you have touched by sharing your gift with words. You are a blessing and an inspiration. I love this blog. It is a reminder to count our blessings and enjoy the moment we are in. Who ever dreamed that one day there would be no Kmart to run to for that new coffee pot . So yes, even when we are having a difficult day , we can find blessings if we look for them.

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      1. Ha ha – no, I just think you’re wise beyond your years. A lot of people don’t think like that, that they are grateful for small things. My mother saw this poem by Red Foley in the newspaper once and cut it out and gave it to me. I’ve always been grateful for my health, because I grew up with someone who was in constant pain. So I searched for it … Googled and found it in a minute. Same as how you wrote in this post.

        God Forgive Me When I Whine
        A poem by Red Foley

        “Today upon a bus, I saw
        A lovely maid with golden hair; I envied her – she seemed so gay –
        And oh, I wished I were so fair.
        When suddenly she rose to leave,
        I saw her hobble down the aisle,
        She had one foot and wore a crutch,
        But as she passed, a smile.
        Oh, God, forgive me when I whine;
        I have two feet – the world is mine.

        And when I stopped to buy some sweets,
        The lad who served me had such charm;
        He seemed to radiate good cheer,
        His manner was so kind and warm.
        I said, “It’s nice to deal with you,
        Such courtesy I seldom find.”
        He turned and said, “Oh, thank you, sir!”
        And I saw that he was blind.
        Oh, God, forgive me when I whine;
        I have two eyes – the world is mine.

        Then, when walking down the street,
        I saw a child with eyes of blue.
        He stood and watched the others play;
        It seemed he knew not what to do,
        I stopped a moment, then I said:
        “Why don’t you join the others, dear?”
        He looked ahead without a word,
        And then I knew; He could not hear.
        Oh, God, forgive me when I whine;
        I have two ears – the world is mine.

        With feet to take me where I’d go,
        With eyes to see the sunset’s glow,
        With ears to hear what I should know:
        I’m blessed indeed, The world is mine;
        Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.”

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      3. Hi Ruth – it is a wonderful poem isn’t it? I’m glad you and your husband both like it and feel free to share away. We all grumble from time to time, but if you have your health, that is the best feeling in the world. A fellow blogger is blind. She just got her second seeing eye dog a few weeks ago after the first one had to retire due to age (strict requirements for that in the UK, probably here as well). Zena is so full of positivity that I often chastise myself for getting angry over petty stuff.

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