Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Come What May, And Love It Or Else


We are in the processes of repainting our upstairs. The room currently under repair is the master bedroom. As I’ve stated before, Mr. J is an expert house painter. However, he takes breaks from the painting for every BYU and Utah Jazz game there is and has taken to calling himself the Silent Serf. I’m all right with the Serf thing after all he is working hard when he works, but Silent? No way! Any of you who know Mr. J are laughing along with me at such a thought. Mr. J is the most talkative man I have ever met and working only increases his loquaciousness. 

What I’m getting at here is that painting between sporting events has meant that for the last two weeks my bed has been in the middle of the room with the armoire which is draped with old pink stripped sheets. The night stands are floating around wherever they won’t be in the way of the Not-So-Silent-Serf. The ceiling is finished with a nice bright white (so much nicer than the old cream color!) the molding is all painted white, and between the two strips of chair rail the bright yellow has been painted. But the rest of the room is still mauve above the chair railing and cream below the chair railing (that was the color I found under the wall paper it took me forever to strip off!). Some of the pale yellow edging has been done and the molding sports bright blue masking tape to protect it whenever it comes time to finish the edging. In short, it is a colorful mess.

To some this would be very disconcerting, but I love change and after eleven years in the same room with the same furniture, waking up to find myself in the middle of the room with bright discombobulated colors surrounding me has been delightful. Of course, knowing it is temporary also helps.

But what it has made me realize is that in life there are a lot of discombobulating situations that can be accepted and enjoyed or that can cause us a lot of unnecessary pain. Learning to love what comes and enjoy it instead of fretting or stressing about it is the difference between a happy life and a miserable life.  Why be miserable when you could be enjoying? It is a choice.

2 comments:

Megan said...

I am feeling very discombobulated right now. I have a hard time with change. I am learning so many needed things from your blog. Things that I need right now. What you are doing is such a blessing. I can't thank you enough.

Anonymous said...

I like your attitude. I have had a similar attitude, but have not told anyone. I am in a tough financial situation right now, but I was promised in a blessing that I would be able to make ends meet. Admittedly I get a little worried and upset sometimes, but most of the time I am looking at it like I would look at a puzzle; I know all the pieces are going to work out so let's get to work and figure out how :)-kind of like an enjoyable challenge because I know it will work out, so I can enjoy the challenge of the process.