Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Find the Silver Lining in Every Cloud



The list of things to do around the yard on Sunday afternoon sat on my desk and glared at me. I did my best to ignore the accusing vibes coming from the unchecked projects. A bank of huge dark rainclouds had moved into the area early that morning. Lightning started flashing, thunder crackling, and a torrent of rain poured relentlessly on the hard, parched earth.

I stood on the porch to take a picture of nature’s fury and watched a flash of lightning appear not quite a hundred yards away. Instantaneous thunder convinced me to forego further pictures and head back into the house. 


After reviewing the picture on the computer, I started thinking of alternate ways to accomplish some of the projects on my to-do list. I typically look for the silver lining of anything that throws me off course to avoid thinking negative thoughts. Finding something good about a situation beyond my control makes me feel better.

The roots on those tall weeds run deep. I had planned to cut the weeds back until the ground was loose enough to dig down and lift the roots out. The yard flooded with the water having just one direction to go – down. Tuesday morning there was little standing water in the yard and I was able to pull the huge weeds out and dispose of them.  Checkmark earned.

The small wooden table in the picture was scheduled for a trip to the dump. The rain reminded me how nice it was to have the kindling and small logs on the shelf when it snowed last year. I was able to have firewood close to the door that was ready to light for heating the house. I added some Gorilla glue between the loose shelf and the inside walls of the table to make it stand straight. It is ready to use again this year. Checkmark earned.

The yard swing was dirty because of a dust storm we had last week. The rain washed it clean for me. At the same time, the rain washed the truck. Two checkmarks earned.

Some of the other tasks will have to wait until things dry out, but I was delighted to accomplish what I could. 

How do you handle the monkey wrenches of life?

21 comments:

  1. How nice of the storm to take care of some of your list! I tend to just push through, one little bit at a time.

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  2. We have had that rain here for the past 2 days. I usually take things like that as a sign that I am supposed to have a pajama day.

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  3. With wine! lol just kidding. Patience and being versatile really helps.

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  4. I am one of those people who get overwhelmed very quickly when too many tasks pile up and then I won't do anything. So, I have learned that just doing a little bit every day can mean a great deal to my mental stability.

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  5. I like to keep my 'to do list' at a minimum. I try to do things as they come along or I will get overwhelmed like Chrystal!!

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  6. Sometimes it takes something throwing us off our plans to really get us on the right track! It can be hard to see in the moment, though.

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  7. It is so difficult to deal with the hard times when you're in the middle of them. Keep your chin up. There is usually a silver lining in there somewhere.

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  8. It is great to look for the silver lining and be positive. Life is short and it doesn't help to spend it worrying

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  9. I have learned over the years - take life as it comes. Glad to see you were able to cross off a few items on your list.

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  10. like you I try to look for the good in every situation, even when there isn't one by the looks of things. Glad to see that little rain was able to help you get a lot of tasks done.

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  11. What a positive spin on everything. Great food for thought next time I'm feeling down about a situation.

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  12. Its nice that you spinned an ugly situation into a resourceful one. Its always great to look at the silver lining in things!

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  13. I try to find the bright side of a bad situation, too. I'm glad you were able to find some pros!

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  14. Oh my goodness, what a horrible event! We get quite a bit of rain and flooding in Florida too!

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  15. We have a lot of flooding in my area too. It is very stressful!

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  16. I need to better learn to go with the flow of life. I tend to get too stressed over tiny things.

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  17. Life is all about chasing that silver lining!

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  18. When life hands me lemons, I make lemon bars. So good!!

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  19. That sounds horrible! It's great you were able to find that silver lining.

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  20. I need to get on my to do list. There will always be more days!

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  21. When we lived on a farm the To Do list was crazy busy every Sat and Sun, we just got up early and dug in, usually by 3pm I was thinking Happy Hour :-) It was tough for two years.

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