It Can ALWAYS Be Worse

This week hasn't been an easy one. Monday night we had a nocturnal visit from one of Satan's minions....alright, it was just a bat, but hey, it was horrible and I couldn't think of a more dramatic way to describe it. Not that I don't feel bad for my son (it was in his room), but I'm glad I really didn't see the creature for myself. I swear as soon as he woke me up in a panic, I lost every bit of saliva in my mouth and even after I took a sip of water, my tongue was as dry as sandpaper. I was ready to leave him there, grabbing my daughter, clothes for work, makeup, etc., etc., but then realized that his car was blocking me in the driveway and he had left his keys in his room with Nosferatu. We were trapped....more or less. Thankfully we have a friend who lives nearby who isn't afraid of these disgusting creatures. He came equipped with two tennis rackets and lots of nerve. By the time he came, the little critter was hiding in the curtains and when at first he said he didn't see anything, we called bravely from down stairs, "Look all around! I know he's there and I want to see a corpse!" He caught it relatively quickly and he ran down the street, shoeless, clasping these two tennis rackets together, poor Batty trapped in between. If it were up to me, if my husband were home, Batty would be in Batty heaven right now, but he doesn't have a problem satisfying my need for blood. Ken is too kind to hurt anything, so I didn't want to press the issue. At least he was gone from the house, and that's all that mattered to me. It could have been worse, is what I was thinking. Again, at least I didn't see the creature myself. I'm looking for the bright side here. On to Tuesday...

Yesterday, at noon I received a call from a friend. She asked me who hit my car. I said, my car? She said, yes, your car...it's smashed in. Excuse me, I said? Well, I probably used the f word or some other such colorful phrase, but all in all, I didn't really believe it. So, I ran out to the parking lot and saw my poor car, the front end all smashed up. Then I thought...someone did this and LEFT? Wow. I'm screwed. As I stood there thinking how screwed I was, and how horrible this whole thing was, and Good Lord, what else this week???....I heard a voice behind me..."I did it, I did it." I stopped. I didn't move. I composed myself. I mean, whoever was behind me was at least here, they didn't really leave. That's good, right? I turned and looked at this poor guy and I thought, if it were you, you wouldn't want to be yelled at, you wouldn't want to be called names...even if the anger weren't at you directly, you would feel like it was and you would feel like hell, I thought. So all I could think of saying to him was, "It's just a car, it's just a car."

Well, it's true. It is JUST A CAR. It gets me from here to there. It's nice...and expensive, however, it's still JUST A CAR. No one was hurt. No one flew through a windshield...no one was in the hospital. It's just a car. I refuse to lose myself to anger over an automobile. I refuse. Especially since this poor guy looked so scared and worried and upset. He looked more worried than I did, and at that point I figured, why add to his anxiety? I tried to find a lesson for life in that moment. His feelings meant more to me than mine did right then, and I tried to be as kind as I could be. He didn't smash my car on purpose. He didn't run and hide. Such honesty should be rewarded with understanding and kindness. The whole thing could have turned out worse....just like the whole Nosferatu encounter. It could have been worse.

I try to take every moment of my life and use it as a lesson. What have I learned from Monday and Tuesday? I learned that it can always be worse.

But...well, I'd really appreciate it if I didn't have to learn any more life lessons from flying rats, if that's alright. I think I can learn just as much from a chipmunk, thank you.