Cracked

As I drove to work the other day, I noticed a dump truck with its cover flapping furiously in the wind, exposing the load of dirt and rocks it was hauling at 75 miles per hour. I eased on over one more lane, trying to put a little distance between me and the imminent danger. Unless a rock flew horizontally across three lanes of traffic, I--and my car--should be safe.

CRACK!

There it was. A chip in my windshield. I watched as the crack in the glass spread. Normally, I would have instantly gone on a woe is me tirade, playing out the oh so inconvenient process of calling my insurance, scheduling the windshield replacement only to have them drop the new one or bring the wrong one or whatever else could go wrong. I would have fretted about it for the rest of my drive, bemoaning my bad luck.

But, I didn't. Instead I did what I vowed to do for 2018: I breathed. I took a giant inhale, sucking in as much oxygen as I could before letting it out with a loud sigh. I took another look at the crack, slightly wider now, but no longer growing, and shook my head. Yes, it wasn't the best luck, but it also wasn't the worst. My car was still drivable. I was safe.

It got me thinking about all the things that have gone wrong lately and how they would normally cause me to crack. Some are small. Some are not. Then, a strange thing happened: As I went through my list of grievances, I matched each one with something I was grateful for.  I also realized my grievances for the most part are pretty insignificant, more inconveniences than disasters.

My life isn't always a piece of cake. It also doesn't qualify as a hard life by any stretch of the imagination. I've had my challenges, but they pale in comparison with what others suffer through. I am blessed. I choose to feel blessed. I choose to be grateful.

As I sit here this morning, tickety tapping on my keyboard, a cloud of things to worry about and get accomplished is swirling above me, threatening to rain on my parade of positivity. A deep breath in and out calms the storm, lets the sun shine down on me once more.

I choose to feel blessed. I choose to be grateful. I choose not to crack.

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