I'm sure that most people have all had one of those days where nothing seems to be going right. Most everything seems to be going wrong and it feels as if the weight of the ENTIRE world is pressing down on you. You can't take anymore. Not one more little thing to rock the fragile boat that happens to be.... YOUR LIFE...let alone having to watch your cell phone drown in a cup of brewed java right before your very eyes...
So what does my cell phone and a cup of coffee have to do with hope? Today...everything!
You
see...if my cell phone happened to be human, you'd all be reading about
this in the
papers today. You would read how my poor little cell phone clung for
dear life to the edge of a shelf on my computer desk and then plunged
helplessly
to it's death into a steaming cup of hot coffee just a few inches
below. It's poor little cell battery life extinguished in a single
instant, and there was nothing I could do but watch it happen. And it
was my own fault. Could this be considered reckless endangerment?
Cell phone-slaughter? (I shudder...)
I had just finished making a call, and carelessly placed the phone on a shelf on my desk top and as soon as I pulled my hand away, it slid off the edge and plopped right into my cup of coffee that was sitting directly below. The first thought that entered my mind at the speed of light was something akin to Tony the Tiger, 'GrrrrrREAT! Just one more thing in my life I need to fix today!'
I frantically fished my phone out of the coffee and attempted to turn it on, but nothing happened. I already knew that it wouldn't, but hey....I had a fleeting glimmer of hope! So there I sat with my dead cell phone in hand, grabbed my latest phone bill, and proceeded to call Sprint. Of course, I had to wade through a multitude of recorded prompts, only to find myself waiting on hold for customer service. Estimated time of wait? The recorded voice said approximately 10 or 15 minutes.
Once again...the story of my life. One big hurry up and wait endlessly for something really good to happen...
Yes, I was deeply entrenched in the depths of what I like to call 'stinking thinking' and all ready to host my very own Pity Party in the house of my mind when...what's this? A real live human voice spoke on the other end of the line and asked how they could be of help. Yay! And isn't that what most of us want when something happens? We want someone to listen and respond to us when we reach out for help...We want someone to care enough to say, 'How can I help you?'
Relieved to finally be communicating with a real person, I recounted the sad story of how my cell phone met it's tragic end, and she told me that it was my lucky day. As of TODAY, I was eligible for a $150 rebate on a new cell phone. Perfect! All's I needed to do now was run over to my nearest Sprint store, pick out a new phone, and sign my life away again for another two years. No thinking on that required since I had only been living without a cell phone for about 20 minutes now and I was already suffering from withdrawals!
For those of you who have ever had something tragic happen to your cell phones...you all know the feeling I'm talking about...
- That feeling that you have just realized for the first time that you are naked...that something very important is missing in your life...that you are somehow 'incomplete'....
- That overwhelming sense of anxiety that says that someone could be trying to reach you at this very moment and you are unable to take the call because your phone drowned in a cup of coffee....
- Or maybe not! Maybe for the first time in a very long time, you finally feel released from prison and now find yourself mimicking William Wallace who with his last breath cried out, "FREEDOM!"
So, as I was getting ready to head off to the store for my new phone, I began to think how great it would be if getting a new life was just as easy as getting a new phone was. I briefly imagined myself calling 'God' and saying, "Hi God. You know that I haven't had the greatest luck for awhile. You know my history. You know all that's happened. You wouldn't happen to have a rebate on a brand new life now, would ya?"
'Well let me see here...Can you give me the last 4 digits of your social security number and I'll look up your file. Hmmm...from what I can see, it looks like it's your lucky day there, young lady. As of this moment, you happen to be eligible for an entirely brand new life!"
Woo hoo! Wouldn't that be great!? I had a nice little chuckle over that imaginary scenario and then it it prompted me to think about a few important and helpful things. I began to relate what happened with my cell phone to real life. MY life. Here's a few thoughts I want to share in the hope that someone else my find it helpful during a difficult time.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
1. Good things CAN result from a negative event or circumstance.
The death of my cell phone was a negative event. End result? A $150
rebate and a brand new phone. Although real life isn't all that
simple, it gives me hope. Bad things have happened in my life, but
there have been some good things that have developed from it as well.
I will use the memories of those good things and cling to them during
the moments when things seem to be going all wrong.
2. It's 'ok' to admit to ourselves and another safe person exactly how we feel, what we want, and what we need. In the case of my phone, I knew exactly who to call for help. I was able to tell them my problem and they provided me with an acceptable solution. However, in real life, sometimes there is no other person that can give us the answers we are looking for, but I realized that most of us still would like there to be someone we can call out to when things go wrong. They may not be able to fix anything for us. We may not even NEED their advice at all. But maybe all that we need is for them to listen to us and be with us in our moment of need. Which leads me to this next point....
3. Know when to reach out for help and know who to call. I
believe that it is important for everyone to have at least a few
positive, uplifting people in their lives. Surrounding ourselves with
too much negativity can keep us stuck. Negativity can also be
contagious. So it's important to build a good network of positive and
encouraging people in your life that will not serve to bring you down,
but will help encourage you and lift you up. But it is also just as
important to recognize the limits of other people. Sometimes it is
necessary to call on the help of a doctor or a counselor who may be
more equipped to help you through the rough spots along the way. NOTE:
If you are feeling suicidal or unable to deal with life events on your
own, never be afraid to reach out for help.
4. It may be raining today, but it will not rain forever. I happen to live in the pacific northwest where we wake up each day and ask ourselves, 'Uh yeah...can I have a little bit o' sunshine to go with all this RAIN we've been having for months now!?' And the good news that I can tell myself is this...I've been living in this region since 1985 and the rain WILL eventually stop and the sun will shine again. It happens every year. The raindrops will stop falling on my head, and the sun will shine on me once again.....
And although I only left the Sprint store with a brand new cell phone rather then a brand new life, I could still see the sun trying to pierce through the thick layer of clouds in the sky. There may be rain today, but there very well could be a day full of sun tomorrow!
*Originally posted in 2006.
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