A Roller Coasting Kinda Day – And A Gentle Reminder to Forgive (Yourself!) I believe it’s important to always stay keen and sharp or, in other words, stay on your toes, stay alert, ALWAYS be prepared for the unexpected, be organized. It’s funny (at least I think it is) that as I write, that ADHD issue I have keeps rearing its ugly head and for now I’m giving ‘it’ free rein as the invading and interrupting thoughts seem worthy enough to mention. And if I don’t mention them now, they may be lost forever…. My mother (she will continue to pop up, I’m sure) was a tremendous worrier. There wasn’t anything she didn’t worry about, quite honestly. She drove me nuts with her incessant overprotectiveness. I couldn’t leave the house, even in my late teens, without being cautioned about potential mayhem and ills and that could fall in my path. As a teenager (and younger) it aggravated me to no end and I was quite verbal about it. I was smart and sensible and I would be as careful as I wanted to be. Period. Accept it and move on, for goodness sake. Fast forward decades and during one of our conversations I asked her about her worrying and she reduced it to a very simple concept. She once read that the things you worry about will never happen, so she simply wanted to do her best to cover all bases. Ha! We had a good belly laugh – you know those laughs when you’re laughing so hard that you can’t speak and you start making these snorting noises when you try to catch your breath which only makes you laugh harder? That’s great stuff Back to my day and staying keen. Well … I’d been researching pet stores that carry the dog food I feed Shadow and I finally found one between Monterey and Salinas. It’s not a fancy food but it’s a reasonably priced food that works well for him and all of his orthopedic issues. Unfortunately there are very few retainers on the west coast. Today would be the perfect day to run up there and pick up a bag and enjoy another hike at Ft. Ord while I was so close. I wasn’t due to Meghan’s until mid to late afternoon to do some sewing and fix dinner. It was at least 85 degrees here today with very low humidity. A little on the warm side but sunny and gorgeous and I just love my hikes. Well, I grabbed the bag of dog food and drove the few more miles to Ft. Ord where I parked my car, gave Shadow a last minute drink of water as Ft. Ord is very arid and there is very little shade and I promptly locked my keys in my car! I went through the ‘beating up Amy phase’ quickly because it was too hot to waste time on self deprecation! That would have to wait. Shadow is black and his coat already felt warm. I’d have to call Meghan. She didn’t answer so I dug deep and called Craig, my son-in-law. I don’t like making mistakes and I don’t like asking for help. I know, I know … I must work on those issues! What a gem he was. I told him how to get into the RV and where he could find the extra set of keys. Within an hour I was rescued. Meghan brought the keys and sounded grateful that something happened to take her out of the house. Perhaps a win/win situation?? In the interim I acted as thought I was on the Mojave Desert I found some shade and tried my best to keep Shadow still. I even took a picture of us smiling and patiently waiting to be rescued. Two lessons learned -- One more extra key needed to be in a little magnetic box hidden somewhere on the chassis AND I needed to be a little keener, a little sharper, and a little slower slamming my car doors! Took a short hike but by that time it was downright hot and we’d already been outside for at least an hour. Picked up what I needed for dinner and headed to Meghan’s. I walked in their house and before I knew it I was taking Carson to the neighborhood pool. Craig was going to sautee’ the chicken I brought and dinner would come together later. Sounds good to me! Remember, I’m flexible … I jogged while Carson rode his Strider bike and we had a great time. Carson took a warm ‘rinse off’ shower after swimming and then we headed home. I forgot to tell Meghan that I put him in big boy pants rather than a diaper after his shower. Well, if you know kids they drink half of the pool while they’re swimming which means, yep …. they pee like crazy afterwards and not always in the bathroom! Yep, I made yet another mistake and I had been warned on our last swim outing! Ugh! Twide in one day! On the bright side, dinner was great and things settled down, but today was just one of those days that reminded me to be humble. It was also one of those days that reminded me how important it is to forgive yourself. That we’re all human, we all make mistakes, and we’re here for one another. That it’s OK to ask for help. As a matter of fact, we should get used to it and embrace it. We shouldn’t feel badly about it because we all need each other on some level and to ask for help strengthens the human bond. I know this intellectually but it is obviously difficult for me to truly internalize. I had a piece of paper on my refrigerator years ago that simply said, ‘Give up the Lone Ranger routine.” Good advice … Without saying, here’s my sign off …. "The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." Mahatma Ghandi … and …. "Forgiveness is a gift to yourself." Suzanne Somers Give yourself the gift of strength every single day!
Posted on: Sun, 06 Oct 2013 06:04:15 +0000
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