Have y’all ever noticed that it is easy to put a positive spin on things when life is running along smoothly? When the road gets rocky, being optimistic is much more difficult. However, that’s exactly when we need to practice seeing Only The Good the most.
These past few weeks, I am struggling more so than usual to remain optimistic (some of you might have noticed that I didn’t post last Friday). I have been on the road for several weeks with very little down time; the days have been rainy and dreary; I can’t brag about the lodging I have had; I’ve been lost during rush hour traffic in Houston (of all places); I think I am coming down with a cold; and there is a huge likelihood that I will be “snowed in” Friday night and be unable to return home. I don’t have lodging for the night! It’s going to be pretty darned chilly to be sleeping in my car.
To tell you the truth, I have spent hours this week in self-indulgent weeping. Now, it’s time to get over myself and find the good in all of this.
Here goes nuthin’:
- Seeing the delight and wonder on the faces of my audiences as I tell stories in schools never ceases to thrill me. I’ve been able to experience that every single day this week.
- I have had lodging, which I will especially appreciate if I have to sleep in my car!
- I have tons of blankets in the car, because I brought my display for my spinning program.
- I once was “lost” but now I’m found (even though I still can’t see
sh…anything). - I’ll eventually be paid real cash dollars for the week. When I was a little kid, I got a whipping for “lying,” but I’ve discovered that it’s all about semantics. Call it “fiction” and people pay you!
- Even though my week has been rotten, I remember the Jewish folktale of King Solomon’s ring. If a happy man looked at it, he became sad, and if a sad man looked at it, he became happy. It said, “This, too, shall pass.”
- Despite everything, I got to dine at a Vietnamese restaurant and had my favorite meal.
WordPress wouldn’t let me tell you in the caption that Vietnamese egg rolls are Cha giò. In fact, WordPress won’t let me put the proper accents on the words! There is supposed to be a little symbol above the “a” in Cha. Oh, well. I’m just trying to show off, and WordPress is keeping me in my place (you ought to hear me wrap my Texas accent around those words!).
Vietnamese egg rolls
Bun Ga Nuong
The egg rolls alone were enough to cancel out all of my whining!
Y’all have a delightful day out there, and if you get a chance please visit some of my friends who also try to post “the good.”
RV Poetry; Candid Karina; All My Great, or Not So Great Adventures; Inside Mo’s Mind; Thorne’s World; Down River Drivel; Duward Discussion; Ramblings of an Unstable Mind; Insightful Nana; Newbie Lifeline; Everyday Tarot; West of Mars; Life’s Journey; Round Circle; Barbara’s Travels; Blog of Revelation; Desert Diva; Blogjem My Life As It Is
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I can sure see why you were overjoyed at having the chance to eat some food that looks as good as that does! Made me hungry looking at it.
Here’s hoping that providence will be with you and carry you through to a place where, lo and behold, you will find a room and NOT have to sleep in your car -even if you do have oodles and oodles of nice warm blankets there, as we age, we do need the comfort of a decent mattress and pillow beneath us, ya know!
And keep on telling all those lies, will ya!???
Peace.
Jeni Hill Ertmer´s last blog ..Speaking of Food…
We have a Vietnamese man that works at school and for Tday he made us all an egg roll(-: They were yummy(-:
I hope you make it home tomorrow and do not get snowed in. I really hope you don’t have to sleep in your car in the snow)-:
cindee´s last blog ..Final Finished Gift …LOL
Food looks good enough to eat!
Here in the Northland, most folks carry a Winter Survival Kit in the trunk of their car. You see, getting stranded in a snowstorm is a reality more often than just not being able to find lodging for a Friday night.
The kit consists of a blanket, of course, and a shovel. The shovel can help you get unstuck, but the better purpose is to clear out the area behind the exhaust pipe so the carbon monoxide can escape if you get stuck in the snow and it keeps on snowing and covers the car and exhaust.
Also, a coffee can, the metal kind, (not the new fangled plastic Folgers “cans”), with a candle. You can light the candle in the bottom of the can and crack your car window for fresh air. It warms up the car after you run out of gas because you probably will if your sitting in it in a snow drift waiting for the plow to come along.
This is not a story, this is a way of life up here in Winter. We are told to stay with the car. A car is easier to spot than a frozen body along the side of the road. Sounds callous, I know, but things to think about “Up North”
I’m sure you do a great job telling stories, you sure do here in writing!
Peace.
Spadoman´s last blog ..Only the Good Friday, December 4, 2009
Being on the road alone can be really tough Shelly, I so admire you for finding the good in it (and boy that food looked good!).
I know that if those kids enjoyed your stories half as much as Itai and I did then they had a wonderful time indeed. Focus on that and the fact that you are still able to be out there following your dream, even on the tough days.
xox
Robin from Israel´s last blog ..Israeli Sunrise, December 2009
I try to focus on that, Robin, because life on the road really does stink. Even if the weather doesn’t turn bad, being away from home & driving so much is difficult. But, the kids make it worth it.