At the beginning of this week I kind of hit an emotional low. Going from playtime in Roatan to discovering my roommate let my garden get destroyed by horn worms (EVIL!!!), discovering my sister's psycho-ex-husband is still on the prowl, work drama, dating drama, being sick, etc. my whole inner balance kind of went out of whack for a bit. Then I had some totally great experiences and remembered that my life is basically the best thing ever. Here are the realizations that helped me get back into my groove.
1. Drinking Fountains- I managed to avoid getting sick during my travels until the VERY LAST DAY.... then my bowels were explosively disagreeable for 4 days. As I put in the effort to stay hydrated I remembered how hard it is for so many people in this world to get clean drinking water. I've grumbled to my coworkers that its ridiculous we don't have a water machine in the break room but if I bother to walk the few hundred feet to the drinking fountain I know that A. the water is clean , B. its located indoors, C. it'll take little to no work to get water from it, and D. I don't have to worry about it running out of water. Heck, I'm sure the sink water in the break room (even though it tastes WAY gross) is still better than the stuff they get from homemade wells or from the sinks in third world countries.
2. Trip to the Grocery Store- Not the most likely of places to realize your life is awesome, but when I thought about how in Guatemala (much of Central America actually) so many people live off of rice, beans, tortillas, and then I oogled over everything we have here. I kind of went overboard and bought myself a rotisserie chicken, southern biscuits, veggies and dip, blackberries, strawberries, a Kiwano (I don't know what it tastes like... I bought it because it looks cool. Pictured below), B&J's Greek Frozen Yogurt, my favorite cereal, hazelnut chocolates, pizza, frozen meals for work, more than a weeks worth of groceries and it cost me what.... Meh, I splurged but I still could cover those expenses working for 2 hours. Some kids drop out of high school to help their parents pay for stuff and in a week I can easily cover my living expenses for the month. Spoiled? Yes, yes I am.
3. Revisiting the Garden- So horn worms decimated one half of my garden, particularly my beautiful, tall, healthy tomatoes but upon further investigation, I learned they're only mostly dead (Princess Bride teaches us that's okay). They have a few leaves and I think they're actually going to recover. Even if they died I still have my awesome Zucchini plants and a grocery store full of food so I shouldn't let myself get TOO upset, even though I worked really hard to get it built, set up, watered, etc.
4. Night out with friends- My friends our awesome which reminded me how my single life is awesome. My schedule has a lot of freedom, my life is flexible and I'm not overburdened with responsibilities, I have a successful career... I want to get married but only if I meet someone that would make me feel like it would be worth giving up my cushy single life. I don't expect a Mr. Darcy/Prince Charming combo but I do expect somebody I'm crazy about and for the idea of marrying him to make sense. If I'm not crazy about him or if I haven't gotten a spiritual round house kick to the face saying "He's the one!!", then I guess I'm stuck being single, aka taking trips to Central America, going snowboarding on a whim, flirting ferociously on the dance floor, going on impulsive adventures, discussing who is the most handsome in the new Avengers movie, etc. What a hard knock life. ; P
5. Temple- When I first moved into the Phoenix area, I felt somewhat alone. Especially when my whole housing thing flopped and remembering how easy the good life was in Provo. In response to the chaos, I tried to keep up with my usual routines, one of which is going to the temple once a week. As I continued my habit in Arizona, I noticed a trend. Even though most of the time I went by myself, I always ran into at least one familiar face. Every week. It seemed kind of weird at first since you'd think it would happen in Provo but I guess God realized I'd need this reminder here at this point in my life. No matter what comes next in my life, I at least know that God is there, that He's aware of me and that I'm not alone. Even if life seems hard at times, if I'm doing the right things and trying to give Him control over it, well, then I know things will turn out for the best. Thank goodness for the gospel in my life.
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