I'm getting an alarm clock. Here's why.
I blinked open my eyes to find some baby things missing from the room. Russ must've taken them in the night to sooth a crying baby. The house was quiet. I reached for my phone to see the time - or maybe because the alarm on it went off. Notifications from Facebook and Twitter were the first things I saw. Oh, that's nice - a blog retweet. Then I checked the news to learn that we may still face nuclear war. Great. Then there were a couple of new texts from a conversation I was having the night before. Although the phone was in silent mode, I could see there was an incoming local call. I answered and spoke softly so as not to wake up the baby. I still didn't know the time.
The guy at the car dealership service department apologized for waking me up.
"No, I'm just trying not to wake up the baby."
It turned out that after four new tires, new brakes and a new taillight the cost would be in the neighborhood of twelve hundred dollars. (I had dropped off the car the night before to get an oil change.) I could pick up the car after 1PM. "And the oil change is free because I'm spending so much money." I helped the service guy finish his thought.
"No, but the tire rotation is, since we don't have to still do that," he replied with a chuckle. "That will save twenty-five dollars." How is that saving any... my thought trailed off as I decided to take the fake twenty-five dollar bonus and run.
"Thanks!" I responded as if he were doing me some kind of favor by not charging me for work they weren't actually going to do anyway. #whatishappening ?
Soured, I hung up and replied to the texts from the night before, which were from a rant about how big businesses are eating up small mom and pop stores and THAT'S why we shouldn't buy extra large Christmas gift bags on clearance from the big franchise store (whose name I'm not going to mention here). Isn't it bad enough that the local church has become an antique store? Are we going to shop there too? Maybe the row that I sat in for my grandmother's funeral is having a sale on old rusty trowels. (I continued the rant from the previous night.) #rantlayover. Is that a thing?
I finally realized the time - 8AM. I had just spent twelve hundred dollars and spread a rant to three other people (one in California who would wake up to it) before 8AM. Three other people, in addition to myself, might have a sucky day as a result. At that point I could easily have gone on Facebook and found two hundred more things to complain about. I realized that I'd better get up, go outside and hug a tree to stop the madness (because THAT'S not mad at all). It didn't seem like I could have stopped the flow of that chain of events as they occurred. The car would've still needed those repairs and I would've woken to that reality no matter what. Right? Like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book, I tried replaying the whole sequence of events differently. What if...
The phone was in the other room. I woke to the sound of my traditional alarm clock and stayed in bed, silently meditating and centering myself in a place of gratitude (like the book I am currently reading suggests). Just ten minutes of silent gratitude put me in a chipper mood. I happily answered the phone when the car guy called. Grateful that they'd discovered my severe need for brakes and tires, I was glad that the work was being done. I was happy that someone else found some extra large Christmas gift bags on sale and congratulated them on the find. I spread a spirit of love to three other people first thing in the morning and God only knows how that may have affected their day. I smiled all the way to the car dealership where the guy really did give me a free oil change because my energy made him smile too. I felt so good about how the day was going, I stopped to buy a lottery ticket. I might have even won!!!
Yes. I'm buying an alarm clock like the book I'm reading said to do.
I'd like an alarm clock. Thank you. Amen.
Epilogue:
I returned to my phone to find a new text. Apparently, the local mom and pop store doesn't sell jumbo Christmas gift bags, so I should "get over it." #TakingResponsibilityForThePathIChose - LOL
Namaste,
T
P.S.
Here's a song for #musicmonday. Why THIS song? Because when we were in church this Sunday, and Zach started getting restless and fidgety, and I had already handed him everything I could think of to keep him busy and finally handed him my phone to keep him occupied for just a couple more minutes while the congregation was finishing up quiet prayer, THIS is the song that he managed to get Siri to play even though my phone was muted and locked AND THEN I couldn't make it shut off. I finally handed it to Russ who eventually silenced it. #goodtimes. Have a great week everyone! xoxo
No comments:
Post a Comment