Gratitude Day 335

Tues., Oct. 8, 2019

Colossians 1:11: We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy.

I was so excited to be home yesterday. Most Mondays, I work at the office for my part-time job. I switched days this week so I could have a whole day at home to catch-up on some projects that desperately need my time and attention.

The day went nothing like I had planned.

Our internet hasn’t been working well for days. Really, a couple of weeks. I decided to tackle getting this fixed by calling customer support. A couple hours later, and the internet’s speed was only marginally faster than at the beginning of the morning. A technician just left. He made one quick and easy adjustment … and the speed is back where it should be! He kindly also showed me how I can fix this myself next time.

In spite of slow internet speed, I noticed some suspicious transactions on two of my financial accounts. This meant another batch of calls to the two financial institutions. One was very helpful. The other? Not so much. I’m still working on getting this resolved but optimistic that I have protected myself for now.

This isn’t the first time one of my financial accounts has been compromised. These days, I don’t think it’s “if” someone will get into one; I think it’s only a matter of “when.” This is part of where we are today.

Unfortunately, I began to lose my patience after spending the entire morning on the phone … with little to show for it.

This morning, I came to realize that my first-world problems are, well, just this. First-world problems. Yes, these things are inconveniences. Compared to the person who doesn’t know how she will feed her children tonight? Minor. What about the man who knows he will be evicted this week? My “challenges” are a blimp in the road. I am not facing an undiagnosed illness that I have been struggling with for weeks. Nor dealing with an ultimately terminal disease.

Yes, these irritations distracted me, kept me from focusing on where I desperately wanted to focus my attention. But at the end of the day, they are a 1 at best on a scale from 1 to 10 with 10 being catastrophically life changing.

What in your world seems to be draining you? Challenging you? Distracting you? How significant is it really?

Today is a new day. The sun is shining in my little piece of the world. I have the opportunity to work on all those things I was so convinced would be accomplished yesterday. I pray that as I go through this day, I’ll keep more perspective on what comes into my world. I’ll try to keep the less important things in relation to what else is going on in my world and the world around me.  

For new perspective about potential distractions in daily life, I am grateful. 

Lord God – forgive me for when I wasn’t as patient yesterday as I should have been. Thanks for the reminder that my first-world problems really are minor compared to so many other things people will deal with today. Thanks for helping me learn this lesson … again.  Amen.

Blessings –

Dianne

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