With my own people that I support at work, starting today and for the rest of the week, I have 'taken on' about 8 doctors that I hope will not contact me at all. One of the executive assistants I work with is taking today and the rest of the week, off for a medical procedure. A heart ablation. Sounds serious enough to me! So she asked if I could take on her people. Sure, I said! No problem! Now my thoughts are like "please, Lord, don't let any of her doctors want anything!" It will be an ok day... if she can do it, I can do it, right? My only concern is I also offered to take a granddaughter to her doctor appointment today so will be away from my computer for a few hours. Oh well. It is what it is, right? If I'm going to get asked to do something, it will be in that timeframe, right? I'll just handle it when I get back.
I think I made hubby mad yesterday. Lately he has been doing a lot of grumbling about a friend of his. He wants this friend to go to breakfast or lunch with him. The friend has said he couldn't, because his wife has given him several chores to do at the house and he has to get those done. She tells him what she wants done and how she wants it done, and then goes off and plays pickleball with her friends or goes shopping or out to lunch. The thought hit me... and I verbalized it. Hubby didn't like my thoughts about this situation. What did I say? "well, it is kind of like our situation, isn't it?" "what do you mean?" "Well, you make ME work... and you go play. Isn't that about the same thing?" Uh, yeah. That didn't set well. I guess I need to learn to keep my mouth shut and mind my own business, right? Hubby was still acting somewhat grumpy when he brought my coffee in this morning. This could be a long day.
I've done a lot of typing this morning.... and a lot of erasing. My thoughts are rambling around in my mind. I think a lot is that I didn't get to sleep until about 1AM... and that alarm went off at 4AM way too soon. I need to start eating better and exercising and get more rest. THEN my body should feel more energetic, right? Oh, but to start! Of course I could be like hubby.... I go to my doctor for my physical in a couple weeks... if I start watching my diet now, and start exercising, then I can tell my doctor I am eating healthy, and I'm exercising, and he will be so pleased. Right? Ah... the key is to START... and my 'I don't want to cause there is still ice cream in the freezer' mode rears it's ugly head. How do you deal with these thoughts?
I'm starting to collect items for Christmas here in this room. I really do plan to cut back this year so I'm thinking that if I put a sticky note on each thing I buy and put it here in the open (on the floor out of the way), that I can stay focused on what I have bought already and not get carried away this year. Can I do that? Which means I need to pull out of the closet some of the things I've already bought and bring out here as well. I think part of my problem is that when I make something, I don't put any value on it.. i.e., I made afghans for each of the grandchildren last year... but it didn't seem to be a nice enough gift and I had to buy a few things more ... when they accepted the afghan as a nice gift. At least I think they did. I don't have anything to make for them this year... I've already given all the grandchildren quilts (albeit cheaters quilts), so that's out. And now I'm more concerned about 'clutter' so don't want to do that. I'm just going to have to try and meet up with them and get them to talk and see what things they are interested in that I can buy something for. I imagine they are all getting tired of getting t-shirts with stupid sayings on them. I don't like to give gift cards, but when they are necessary, it is ok. But where do they like to go? What do they like to do? So many questions in my mind! Parents seem to be having a tough time with it as well so they are no help to offer ideas!
Philippians 2:14 (NIV): "Do everything without grumbling or arguing."
Sigh. Sometimes I wonder when specific scriptures come to my mind. Yep, that one just hit. I 'sometimes' do a lot of grumbling, don't I! But the Bible says, 'Do EVERYTHING without grumbling or arguing.' Did Paul know that we would STILL be grumbling hundreds of years later? Probably. It's in our nature (for most of us) to grumble about something - right? (we have to get up. we have to work. (ok, that's my biggest grumble), we have to pay bills, we have to go here. we have to do that. There is always something we grumble about. So what if we try that for just today - we don't grumble or argue? One day at a time, right? (I wonder if I can get hubby to agree to that?)
Ok so let's try it. A challenge to you today. And to me. Let's agree to 'do everything without grumbling or arguing'. I have confidence in you (more than I do in me, I'm afraid!) . Let's do this. Whenver we catch ourselves thinking negative thoughts (grumbling, right?), let's stop ourselves and put it in a positive report. Just because someone else is grumpy, doesn't mean we have to be. Just because work is causing angst, we don't have to let it affect our attitudes.
We've got this - right? Let's work on it together. Let's see if we can do this for one day. Then let's go for two days. And then three days. Let's be better, because we want to be better. And watch our troubles fall away! Ready? Let's do this!
Blessings!
