I try to look at life like the shower guy in this cartoon. If things aren’t going my way, I make adjustments. I know people who focus on the negative and, what seems like, their never ending woes. That’s a bummer. Life is full of obstacles. I believe we’re better off when we focus on the positive. Worrying about the things we can’t control accomplishes nothing.
The summer after my first year of teaching, I drove my teaching friends, Rick, and his wife, Candy, to Lake Michigan. They asked if they could bring their dog along. He was old, hadn’t been feeling well, and they didn’t want to leave him home alone. I said, “Sure.” Rick and the dog sat up front with me, while Candy rode in the back of my Mustang convertible with the picnic lunch she packed. About twenty minutes short of our destination, the dog peed on the front seat floor. I stopped the car, but my stop was in vain. He had emptied his bladder on the front seat carpeting. Rick verbally scolded the dog, and Candy marveled at how calmly I handled the situation.
“What choice do I have? He needed to go. I get more upset about the things I can control. This is not one of them.” The rest of our day went smoothly. We enjoyed our time at the beach. When we got home, Rick cleaned the car’s carpet. All was well. We survived the dog’s single bladder failure and didn’t allow it to spoil our day.
To be clear, I don’t handle everything as smoothly as the dog situation, but I try. I do my best to keep moving forward. If things aren’t going my way, I “adjust the temperature” like the cartoon guy and keep moving on. I find “stewing in my own juice” gets me nowhere.