It's The Little Things

In general, I feel pretty well prepared for the big events that life throws at me. I've seen my husband go to combat 3 times, I've moved 5 times in 10 years and I've been through natural childbirth. Oh, and natural disasters...pshaw! I was in both the San Fransisco and Northridge earthquakes and, more recently, I survived 2 blizzards. Now all that should prove two things. First, I'm pretty good in a crisis. Second, I might be bad luck and you may want to keep your distance.

But here's the glitch in the system, its the little things that wear me down. I can keep my cool and not freak out when the ground starts shaking, but when the kids start whining or the washing machine breaks, my temper starts going Irish quicker than you can say "Faith and Begorrah."

I'm sure it just goes to prove the old adage about the straw that broke the camel's back as it crossed a bridge too far over the dam that burst...um, is it still a mixed metaphor if the sentence technically makes sense? Anyway, my point is that its the little things that drain us of energy and threaten our peace of mind. It's the subtlety, and frequency, of these minor annoyances that sneaks up on us and has us over reacting and losing our cool.

Fortunately, I've also found that its the good little things that are the most encouraging. While I wouldn't turn down a Noble Peace Prize and I'm sure I'd be highly encouraged if I ever won a Pulitzer, I'm pretty darn encouraged at the moment by my 3 year old son who told me today, "I love you so much, Mommy!" And if that wasn't enough he added, "You're the best Mommy I've ever seen!"

The good little things in life can be powerful blessings, but they're harder to spot than the little annoyances. So we have to learn to let the rotten little things go, hopefully without causing major property damage, and at the same time watch for the little blessings and hold on to them with all we've got.