GOOD DAYS AND BETTER DAYS

We are told that there is goodness inside each of us.  But I sometimes wonder if that is correct. I also wonder why others take such joy in attempting to ruin another persons efforts at doing good.  Deep down inside, I feel it is a lack of self esteem.  Perhaps they are thinking if they tear someone else down, they will feel better about themselves.  I have always and will always be outraged by wrong.  Today is no exception.  Fighting windmills is my specialty. 

None of us like to lose.  And as Lily Tomlin said, "The problem with winning the rat race is you're still a rat." So I choose to look at my adversaries as rats.  And then I consider, what if I decide I don't want to compete?  In all honesty, I prefer to sit back and observe their foolishness and behave with grace.  I refuse to accept what someone else fabricates about me to make themselves be perceived as better.  Lies have been told with the sole purpose of hurting me and ruining my foundation.  Okay, guess what?  It didn't work! I win.  I have maintained my integrity, my optimism, and certainly my compassion despite their best efforts to threaten these qualities in me.

I have a job to do. But not until I do the job at hand.  And that job is to rest.  After burst pipes, fried appliances, water damage, holes in walls, a burned up washing machine, ever present workmen, and the joy of a kidney stone, plus the ever present persistence of an individual to see me burst, fried, and damaged, I am still here. And I am not the rat. 

Sometimes we simply need the nourishment provided by rest.  More often than not, I have to remind myself that I am more than a productivity unit. Renewal is essential and sacred for alertness and a good attitude.  I have to find the healing power of time off.  We all have a place where we find sanctuary - a place where we can pause and rest and find ourselves again.  Our identity is not defined by our accomplishing something and achieving something.  Consider perhaps, that it is defined solely when we stop, sit still, and hear that small still voice inside saying "Thank you, I needed this."

So this weekend I rest.  And in resting I will find the unfaltering determination to carry out that which is good and right.  I will find the ability to go on in spite of my enemies. I am moving forward.  They can stay stuck.

As a dear friend reminds me, "There are two kinds of days, good days and better days."  Today is a good day.