Sometimes I Need a Reminder

It's so funny how little things can make you really think sometimes.

Last Saturday I spent most of the day grumpy, angry, annoyed, frustrated, irritated, discouraged and upset. I didn't care that it was one of the most beautiful days we've had all year. I didn't bother to make the day useful - I chose to spend the entire day feeling bad for myself. I think it had been under the surface for a little while and by Friday night, it all came to a head. So, Saturday was pretty much miserable. I finally got over it that night and decided to just let it go.

Well, last night my dad was here (he stays with us a few nights each week for his job here in Salt Lake), and my sister Sarah came over. After picking up Lily, grocery shopping at Walmart (which I didn't do on Saturday because I obviously wasn't in a "shopping place"), feeding Lily, making dinner, and all the other stuff I try to cram in the few hours between getting off work and dropping into bed, I found myself with a few minutes to sit down to watch a little TV with my dad and Sarah. Now, this hardly ever happens (granted I didn't do dishes or put away laundry, but nevertheless...). I NEVER just watch TV, and anything that I do get to see is Tivo'd and on the weekends! So we were flipping between the San Antonio v. New Orleans game, some old western movie and House. House is kind of a quirky little show, but last night I just got sucked in. Of course they were trying to diagnose a "mystery" illness that ended up resulting from a fairly random sequence of unrelated events, but at the end, the patient didn't make it. Hardly a unique story line, but last night as I was falling asleep, I was thinking about it some more.

This random little TV show reminded me of what I already knew, that we just don't know when our time is up. Each and every day is a gift from God. Choosing to spend an entire day sulking, angry and feeling sorry for myself is throwing away precious time with people we love, in favor of indulging in self pity. Why? I don't have the answers, all I know is that I am grateful for the reminder. I know that the choice is mine to work through problems instead of letting them fester and then to choose to move on and enjoy the blessings in my life. A lesson I needed to re-learn this week.