Max and Molly wander around; slightly confused at the new paths they have to take. Sawhorses, supplies, buckets and various tools impede their normal routes. The holly bushes have been trimmed and their hiding place underneath is now raked and exposed. The temporary fencing we put up (how long is temporary before it grows into permanent?) has been rearranged and now stops them from going back to the areas where they’ve killed the grass.

Their world is in chaos.

Yet they are still on familiar ground. They sniff, scratch, and pace back and forth over the yard until they seem to adapt to the new. They don’t bark or snarl at the changes, but continue to explore. I think if Max could shrug his shoulders, he would. After about 10 minutes, he just goes to his pen, gets a drink and stands and stares. Like Eeyore, he just thinks.

I’ve been watching and listening to a lot of friends express the chaos in their lives. This seems to be an extremely stressful time for almost everyone for some reason. We’ve all taken on some major projects and commitments and every once in a while our emotions run high and our nerve endings are sticking out about a foot from our bodies.

It’s a moments like this that I sit and think about ten years ago. What were the major issues and overwhelming problems then? Can I remember them? Even if I can, I had to stop and trace back the timeline.

The point is I got through it and over it. I’m sure what ever it was, I stressed and agonized and in spite of everything, it worked out. Maybe not favorably, but today it hardly matters.

Nancy can tell you, I’m not the “logic” person in our household. Sometimes I’m like the robot on Lost in Space, flailing my arms while shouting “Danger Danger Will Robinson”.
But with her calm hand, my ranting and raving fades and I then assess the situation and try to figure out what we need to do next.

My time with the union taught me that the first question should be “what is the problem” followed by “what solution do I want”. Once that is established, I try to figure out what needs to be done to reach that solution. It is usually right there that I have some problems sometimes, because unlike Max and Molly, I don’t want to be flexible and learn to adapt to the changes I need to make.

That’s where I stop and ask myself, what will it matter 10 years down the road? How earth shattering is compromise? Do I have to “win”?

A whole lot of the stress we have is self-imposed. I ponder the Serenity Prayer:
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.

My version goes more like: Grant me the intelligence to know there are some things I cannot change without you, and that some things You will not change for a reason.

I’m afraid too much of the time, I use the Calvin and Hobbes version:
The strength to change what I can, the inability to accept what I can't
and the incapacity to tell the difference."

What can I change today? First order of business, right after that next cup of joe: change my attitude about the things I face today. Change my attitude in the way I deal with people today. Change the way I allow things to affect me and my relationship with others and God.

I crank up a little Buffett (Jimmy, not Warren)

With these changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes
Nothing remains quite the same
With all of my running and all of my cunning
If I couldn’t laugh I just would go insane
If we couldn’t laugh we just would go insane
If we weren’t all crazy we would go insane

Saddle up…it’s back on that Highway……….