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Fairness and Elephant Poop

Sometimes, life just isn’t fair.

My kids tell me this all the time, and I’m pretty sure as a kid I reported this fact to my parents at least weekly.

• That woman who arrived at the deli counter at the supermarket after me and hovered nearby so the person helped her first.
• The AC that broke two weeks after we moved into our house.
• My foot that just decided to dislocate a bone for no apparent reason.
• Those special light bulbs that are supposed to last five years, but last less than one.
• That sickness that hit the day of the triathlon I had trained for.

 

The list goes on and on and on. From stupid things that don’t really matter, to big things that make us want to curl up in bed with a tub of cookie dough and watch nonstop episodes of [insert favorite show here].

Life isn’t fair. It isn’t. And though I wish otherwise, it probably never will be.

Which is precisely why we can’t let that bother us. We can’t let the mundane unfairness of life control us.

This past month, my family and I have been going through an unfairness. A life situation that is crazy! Unexpected. Silly. And utterly, completely unfair. And it’s not been a little thing. It will uproot our lives, and make things much more complicated in the months to come (lest you all worry overmuch, it’s about a failed house purchase for a reason that even the lender admitted to never having seen before).

There are all kinds of ways to react to this unfairness. Anger that it is happening to us. Stress and anxiety for all the changes to come and the added unexpected workload, not to mention expense. Sorrow for losing what could have been. Bitterness at the unfairness of it all!

Or.

Or, or, or, we can chose to be ducks. Face it head on, then let it flow off our backs like water. Trust me, I know that is easier to write than it is to live. I KNOW. But the situation is happening. It will happen no matter how we react. And though we can’t control the situation, we can control how we react.

And we can choose to be happy. We can choose to move past the unfairness, and focus on the good things that still fill our lives. Because there are good things. Lots of them. Sometimes it’s hard to notice those small happinesses when a big elephant of frustration is filling our vision. But a change of perspective, a shift of stance, and there they are. All those good things just waiting to be noticed.

Yes, it will take work. Yes, it will be hard. I know we’ll have moments where we stumble, or slip in the elephant’s poop (gross!). But I hope they will just be moments.

Here’s to moving on. Here’s to focusing on the sunny side of life and finding joy despite it all!

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| TAGS:

elephant poop, fairness, inspiration, moving, positivity, unfairness

The End of Summer

• Moved to
  Oregon

• Entered
  my first ever county fair (with my awesome cinnamon twists)

• Won 2nd
  prize in the county fair (I thought this deserved its own bullet point)

• Made
  hand-shaken ice-cream with my kids (4th annual, baby!)

• Canned
  actual fruit (the lids sealed and everything!)

• Attended
  my first-ever crawdad cook-out (yep, they just lay it all out on the table)

• Painted a
  painting (can you tell which one’s mine?)

• Spent
  time with family

• Joined
  the Sweet Sixteens debut author group

• Received
  and returned 1st edits (on time!)
• Wrote a
  dedication and an acknowledgments page (surprisingly hard!)
• Started
  a Facebook Author Page
• Became a
  “Goodreads Author“
• Discovered
  PB&J on a list of anticipated 2016 MG releases (!!!)
• Received
  my ARCs (still swooning!)

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| TAGS:

2nd place, ARCs, county fair, Crater Lake, Facebook, Goodreads, ice cream, Lake of the Woods, moving, Oregon, PB&J Society

My Crazy in Pictures

The last few months have been full of crazy. Or I could use other adjectives like exciting. Fun. Adventure. Sports. Play. Work. Celebration. Food. Art. Writing. Culture. Bonding. Homecomings.

Lots of good things. But LOTS of things. I’ll be going off-line for a bit since we will be moving in a couple of weeks. But for your viewing pleasure, my crazy (and by crazy, I mean awesome) life in pictures:

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| TAGS:

book contract, Crepes, Eiffel Tower, Girlie, moving, Paris, soccer, Tartelette aux fraises, Travel, Versaille

Hallooo!

Hello, all my long lost bloggy friends! After nearly two months of absence, I’m back, though it may take me some time to regain my sea legs. So for today, I give you my list of what I accomplished while I was gone:

1. Moved halfway across the country with a husband and 3 small children.
2. No one killed each other in said move.
3. Finished the first draft of my WIP (hurray!)
4. Did not rip said draft into pieces. Yet.
5. Bought a couch. In two hours. (I know! Perhaps my biggest accomplishment all summer.)
6. Beat my sister in Words With Friends by nearly 200 points. (Heehee. Sorry Reb . . . I had to tell someone.)

Anywho, I won’t bore you with the rest of my minutiae. What did you accomplish this summer?

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17 comments

| TAGS:

moving, Reb's Photos, WIP, Words With Friends

Wallowing in My Own Mud

So we’ve moved. Unpacked? No. But moved, yes. Yay!

More space for the kids to run around. No neighbors beneath us. Best friends next door. I’m thrilled.

However, I’m learning stuff about myself. Though the new place was “cleaned,” I have spent a lot of time cleaning. Wiping down blinds, walls, cupboards, cabinet tops, disinfecting the bathrooms . . . well, you get the idea. The thing is, I had to do all of that in my old apartment before leaving, and it wasn’t nearly as gross.

And after much reflection, I’ve figured it out . . . in my old place, the dirt was MINE. In our new place, the dirt is someone else’s. That makes it much more egregious.

The thing is, I think our books are like that, too. I see an overused adjective in my critique partner’s work, I heartlessly mark it (in the nicest sort of way, of course). A nicely worded phrase that’s simply unneccessary? Cross it out. Etc., etc.

When I see it in my own? But I NEED that adjective. Is the overuse really that horrible? And that phrase is BEAUTIFUL. Perfect. Necessary. I can’t cut THAT.

See, but it’s my own dirt. Maybe I should pretend I’m editing someone else’s work for my next revision . . . Do you find it easier to edit others’ work?

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20 comments

| TAGS:

dirt, editing, moving