. . . what you believed in the light (Irish Proverb)

Today has been one of those days where I’ve felt everything has been conspiring against me. Here is a brief summary:

• I created a complicated ebay listing for their classified section to find the item (furniture) was not eligible to be sold as a classified listing.
• An unreliable product supplier from last year finally caught up with their paperwork and emailed me a £92 invoice
• Our internet connection has been cutting out all day
• I arrived to a hospital appointment with no time to spare and no change for the ticket machine (I decided to run in and chance it)
• I forgot to pick up an item for a job tomorrow.
• The roof of my mouth has been painful all day making eating and drinking uncomfortable

So I’ve been sat here feeling unrested, overwhelmed, sorry for myself and feeling like I haven’t achieved much. Then I remembered the proverb above from our church service on Sunday (not a Bible quote by the way).

It helped remind me that there is a bigger vision I’m aspiring to and that sometimes down here, where the rubber meets the road, there will be tough times and obstacles to overcome; obstacles that can make me doubt my decision to take the path I’m on and my ability to make it to my ultimate destination.

In good times it’s easy to believe I’ve made the right decision and will achieve all I’ve set out to; but it’s holding onto that belief in the tough times that will pull me through.

It was only when I decided to stop and write this blog page that I realised that (a) there weren’t that many challenges for me to face, (b) they were all small stuff and (c) some good stuff happened today as well:

• I shared an enjoyable breakfast with friends this morning
• A lady from church turned up with a card and chocolates to thank me for volunteering my ukulele playing skills during a party last Saturday (I’m looking at the card and smiling as I write this).
• I didn’t get a parking penalty at the hospital today

So let’s have a look at my original list and what I think about it now:

I created a complicated ebay listing for their classified section to find the item (furniture) was not eligible to be sold as a classified listing.	I didn’t start it from scratch this morning; if I hadn’t saved the HTML code last night I would have lost most of yesterday’s work
An unreliable product supplier from last year finally caught up with their paperwork and emailed me a £92 invoice	It was only a matter of time and never my money to keep.  Meanwhile it’s been in my account offsetting my mortgage interest.
Our internet connection has been cutting out all day	For several months it’s been the best it’s ever been for connectivity and speed
I arrived to a hospital appointment with no time to spare and no change for the ticket machine (decided to run in and chance it)	I didn’t get a parking penalty at the hospital today and saved myself a £1.60 parking fee.
I forgot to pick up an item for a job tomorrow.	I can get it from a local shop in the morning before my friend arrives to use it.
The roof of my mouth has been painful all day making eating and drinking uncomfortable	Big deal!  Yesterday I visited a friend who lives with cancer, is missing half his mouth and lives on special yoghurts.

Look for the light in the darkness.