Life
is frustrating at times. Lots of
times. Every day in fact, there are
frustrating things that happen.
Frustrating things caused by others to you, by them not understanding
what you said, by them doing their own thing instead of what you asked them to
do, by them……well, you know what I mean.
Then, just as you’re judging someone else about their deficiencies,
muttering under your breath about them, and rolling your eyes at what they did
or say, you turn around a commit a major faux pas (an embarrassing or
tactless act ) yourself.
Ah….pride
goeth before the fall!
Here
are my recent situations:
1. My hair cut.
A friend cuts my hair and I love the way she cuts it. At my last hair cut she told me her secret of
never getting “butchered” or getting her hair cut too short. She said, “I say I just want a nip off the
ends.” That means no length is cut, just
a little evening out.
So
10 days ago I went to her to get my hair cut.
I told her I wanted what she had said to do, just a nip off my
sides---it was the back at the neck that needed the trimming. 45 minutes later I walked out with one inch
cut off the sides and the back of the neck super short.
Frustration!
I hated my hair and I do NOT LIKE it to
be that short. It ruined my whole week
and I grumbled every morning when I fixed my hair or looked in the mirror.
2. The Bishop asked to talk to me, initiated by
me, because I felt my service missionary work was overwhelming me and my ability
to do my other ward calling. I explained
the amount of time I invest each week in my service as a missionary. We talked for quite some time and he agreed
that if I was overwhelmed, I would be released.
Finally at the end of the conversation, I said something again about being
a service missionary, and he replied, “Doesn’t your service missionary work
just take an hour a week?” I replied in
unbelief, “NO! It takes Tues and Thurs morning plus hours during the week
preparing file folders of lesson plans for the other tutors to use.” I had
explained that 3 times in those same words during our conversation
but he hadn’t understood. I sometimes spend
6-8 hours a week and he thought I was only spending one. I wondered how I could have explained my
situation any differently.
Now
for my Pride Fall. Yesterday I realized
I had forgotten to mail and text my really good friend a Happy Birthday. Then, when I got home from Church and looked
at the calendar, to my horror, I had forgotten to wish my out-of-state grandson
happy birthday 3 days ago! I have tried
so hard this year to be better at sending birthday cards on time and singing
Happy Birthday on my ukulele on Marco Polo.
And here I had forgotten twice!!
The
lesson I am constantly relearning is this: no
one is perfect. We will all make
mistakes. Sometimes it will necessitate
me forgiving someone, and sometimes it will be necessary for someone else to
forgive me. And especially hard to do: I have to forgive myself as well.
So
today I’m laughing at myself. It’s so
easy for me to judge others and their shortcomings when I am just as bad!
Funny,
funny Cathy!
And
the good news is: my hair has grown a
tiny bit, I was released from my other calling and had it reaffirmed to me that
the Bishop is interested in my life and is led by the Spirit. I texted my friend yesterday and sang to my
grandson belatedly an hour ago.
Things
are normal. And good. And that’s what life is all about!
Thanks for reading,
Cathy
******************************************************************************
