DAY 4 of 50 – Oh Crap!

Yesterday the toilet stopped working, and since the kitchen sink stopped up just a few hours later – I decided it was probably a good idea to call a plumber. I mean, I am rather fond of flushing and showering. Unfortunately he wasn’t available yesterday, so I had to wait until today for my appointment. With concerns about a Main Sewer Line problem, I became extremely conservative about water usage.

   Thank heavens for a talented plumber, and my renewed ability to shower and flush. You truly don’t appreciate the little things in life until they are gone.

   And it got me thinking about the rest of the CRAP I’ve had to deal with these past 50 years. Just like the broken toilet, I kept hoping that eventually the crap would go away – but sometimes crap just won’t leave your life. And when there’s nowhere for it to go, it just keeps swirling around in your life – threatening to overflow and stink up your life.

   Sometimes the only thing to do is to take a step back and get things fixed, and fixed right. And I am grateful not only for today’s plumber, but the other “experts” that have come into my life and “repaired” broken things. For friends, family, bosses, bishops, and all the wonderful people that have been there for me while dealing with all that “crap”, I truly am grateful.

   And when you’re in the middle of dealing with the “crap”, it really consumes your thoughts. Just as it was hard to do anything today without any water, when there’s “crap” in your life it’s also hard to get anything else done.

   At every age, there is “crap” that we all need to deal with. Early in life, it seemed like the crappy things revolved around problems with friends. Then in my 20s, it was college and a couple of really terrible bosses. But into my 30s, I struggled with infertility, step-kids trying to break-up our marriage, and losing my mother. Through my 40s, I learned to deal with a mostly-unemployed husband that was addicted to pornography, divorce, a second husband that used me financially and cheated on me, and learning to become comfortable with who I am.

   All of us have CRAP in our lives, those challenges that come along and “stink up” our lives. Sadly, sometimes we try to deal with them all alone — plunger in hand, trying to joust at a far-too-big-windmill all alone. Just like I needed an expert today, I hope we all remember to pick up the phone and call “Mr. Plumber” — or whichever expert we need to address our particular crap. Whether it’s an actual professional, or just a dear friend, none of us has to deal with our crap all alone.