On Relativity and Perspective

Today started around midnight.  Midnight was when I realized I wasn't asleep.  Husband was snoring.  Husband rarely snores.  And usually, if I nudge him, he stops.  But, not today.  So, after hours of rising fury, I crawled out of bed, showered, and started my day at 4 a.m., in an instinctively grumpy mood.  It didn't help that I was driving on dark, wintery interstates for three hours, and trying to make eight hours’ worth of retail decisions on an empty stomach.  And it was dark.  And cold.  And the roads here are scary.  Etc.

My mind tallied complaints.  Why did I have to forego sleep last night?  Why did I use up my capacity for 40-hour days in highschool?  ...Why is the radio playing such stupid music?!

So, I started man-handling my mentality and focusing on blessings.  Not to be noble - rather, merely to cope.  And the whole world brightened.  *wry grin*  It always does.

- Fred Meyer is brilliant because they leave baskets around the store, so that when you realize you should have grabbed one, you don't have to traipse back to the front.  Brilliant.

- Organic chicken, on clearance, pretty much made my day.  I seriously stood two feet away, hoping/praying, while the sleepy meat-sale-price-tagger methodically printed and slapped orange clearance tags onto choice slabs of meat.

- Ditto to the gallons of organic milk for $2.50!  Scooooore!

[Note to self:  Always grocery shop between 7:00-9:00 a.m.  Stalk all people with orange-tag-printing guns.]

- I got the best parking space in town, without even trying.  No joke.

- The cashier wished me MERRY CHRISTMAS!  Not Happy Holidays, Season’s Greetings, or (the new trend) "Same to you."  I was psyched.  It was awesome.  Nothing against Kwanzaa or Hanukkah or any other holiday celebrated in December, but frankly I think it'd be awesome if we could all unabashedly celebrate whatever we want, verbally and otherwise.  And this cashier did.  Go her!

- I encountered an Irish lady in Costco’s meat department, and we chatted about lamb roasting for a solid five minutes.  Not sure why this was so cheering, but it totally was.

- Eating Costco's peppermint bark samples.  And Kerrygold's Dubliner cheese.  *swoon*

- John Frieda Shampoo, on clearance.  At a definitely-non-Walgreens price.  YES.

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So, I know I’m supposed to write about adulthood on Friday.  And this sounds WAY more like a Happy List.  But, if there’s anything I’ve learned about adulthood, it’s that we have the absolute ability to control our moods.  One person screams because dinner burns; another remains pleasant in the face of chronic illness.  One attendant gives herself the right to be universally grouchy because she’s PMS-ing; another is intentionally gentle with the 5th person yelling at her today.  

Hardship is relative; It's all about perspective.

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“Reflect on your present blessings, of which every man has many, not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” - Dickens