It has been an extremely weird week. With people in mass histeria over the swine flu and I really wish that I were joking - I am a little weary. I actually prayed for more patience and less sarcasim the other morning. What I determined from that little prayer is that I am good for about seven hours and fifty-two minutes, then my mouth gets the best of me. I suppose that I need to keep praying.
I am going to write a book someday in the future that chronicles how in my next life (Ha Ha) I do not want to be the mom. Maybe the dad. It sometimes seems that their job is much less emotional and so because of that somewhat easier. However don't get me wrong I am sure that given a Freaky Friday situation, I would pale by comparison when it comes to my wonderful spouse. I am so grateful for the fact that I have been given the opportunity to be a mother because it affords me many avenues for growth. I just wish that the detours that arise and force me down very unfamiliar roads would be a little less painful for everyone involved.
The general theme of what I have learned on my last little detour is that 1) I missed my calling as a private investigator. My skills at finding the needle in the haystack are becoming more and more honed and 2) no matter what there has to be a silver lining. Frequently it requires much "fasting and prayer" to find it but there usually is a positive even if it is microscopic. 3) sometimes it is imperitive to use that soft, loving tone even when you want to scream at the top of your lungs and use words that were intended for a bar (not that I have ever tried that at all).
So lets address the first learning theme - Did you know that you can put a GPS track on a cell phone and they can locate the person who is in possession of that phone anywhere in the United States except Idaho and Montana. Good to know if you ever need to locate say a child who has been less than honest about his destination. Also your bank will put a trace on the use of someones debit card if you sob uncontrollably on the phone long enough. You know just in case you need to know that. Calling in favors from people who you have done nice things for in the past comes in handy. There still remains a level of indebtedness when you have been kind to others, so keep that up. You just never know when you will require a favor.
I have always wondered where the term silver lining comes from. I looked it up and really it is just a idiom that was conceived a long time ago. You were hoping for something really cool - sorry to disappoint. Anyway, I am learning that we have to look for the good in every situation. Usually it is the smallest of small details that without us examining it really closely would go over looked. Sometimes it even requires us to point the finger back at ourselves and just laugh at something we have done. Whatever the situation that requires us to look for the silver lining, there is something to be learned by looking for the good. Whether it be the fact that even though our children did something that we just couldn't imagine them doing...wow they did it without us guiding them through it and they came back unscathed.
I have decided that since the spirit speaks to us in a still small voice maybe, just maybe I need to speak in softer tones even when I am tempted to scream loudly in anger. I have found, although this skill is far from being perfected and needs to be used more frequently, that when I choose to lower my tone everyone responds better to what I am trying to say. Instead of a full blown, knock-down, drag-out fight ensuing, there is peace and I am able to get across my point with more impact than yell ever would.
One more thing I have learned. I need these situations and children and moments to teach me how to be better. How else would I learn?
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