I am unhappy with my “cable provider.” There! I said it, I’m glad I said it and I meant it. I have felt such depths of anger and frustration with that corporation, to which I pay an excessive amount of money, that I really can’t think of words to adequately express my rage. They have treated me with ignorance, apathy and (I suspect) contempt. How dare they!
In the midst of my temper tantrum, I suddenly realized that I am actually grateful to my “cable provider.” I’m grateful because I realized that I have the time and energy to waste on something so petty and definitely unimportant to the “big picture” as my TV programs and my internet access.
I am sitting in a chair, my chair, in front of my computer, in my own house (okay, it BELONGS to a bank, but my name is on the mortgage)! I am enjoying a weekend; two days off from the job which I usually enjoy doing. I finished mowing my lawn, playing with my dog and poured a beer from my refrigerator. My life is GOOD!
I am a Social Worker with the leading Hospice agency in this area. I work with people who are dying. I work with their family members to help them understand and accept this basic truth: we will all die. It isn’t anything we can cure, prevent or stop and it doesn’t have to be something we fear. However, many people ARE afraid. I get to help my patients by providing information, comfort, and support. I really like my work… Okay, most days, I really like my work.
There are several things I don’t like about my house. It was built in the 1970’s as part of a development and I suspect that there are portions of it that haven’t been improved or replaced since then. But, it has been my home since 1992. My kids consider it their “home,” even though they have traveled around the world and are creating their own, fantastic lives. My wife moved into this house to be with me and we were able to help her mother, at the end of her life, by bringing her into this house to be with us. My neighbor and his wife lost their jobs and lost their home. It was a very sad and painful process and I’m sure that I don’t even know “the half of it.” I didn’t really get to know them all that well. Now, I won’t have the chance. I know other people who have lost their homes and are now living with family. I may not like the carpet, the inadequate kitchen cabinets or the ancient and failing stove, but I am truly fortunate to live in this house…my home.
So, a year from now, I presume that “cable company” will have treated me better or I will have decided to pay my money to someone else. A year from now, I seriously doubt that I will even remember the strong emotions I have felt connected to the “treatment” I have received.
I hope that a year from now, I will remember how fortunate, how blessed I am.
