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Today’s situation is gray but the evergreen trees and bushes remain loyal to the hope of lively days. I am alone this morning. Now there is time to fret over the future. It’s time to research the best insurance plan for the upcoming year for my husband and me. I haven’t focused on end-of-year taxes and that needs my attention. November is here. I need to move on these two chores. But I am not worried. All good things come from within me. I am at peace.
About a month ago, our dishwasher would not start. Wouldn’t it be fun to do dishes by hand for a while,? Sure, I liked it! With Thanksgiving coming, a dishwasher would come in handy. I looked up my make and model number on YouTube and found clear instructions how to exchange the starter strip. This research took place about two weeks ago. It needed to settle in. I felt apprehensive. Last week I purchased the strip and received it last Sunday. Yesterday, after lunch, something moved me to begin work. My husband, who is not well enough to make this repair, found the power screwdriver for me and sat close by. He has always supported my efforts to fix things. As a child, I could hold the tools for my father, while my brothers used the tools. This did not go well with me. I love to see how things work! With quiet confidence I moved ahead. One step in front of the other! I used my iPhone flashlight, a pair of magnifying glasses and the YouTube video. Within the hour, I fixed the dishwasher!
This situation was exhilarating! I gave a lighthearted interpretation to this non-working dishwasher. I looked on the brighter side: Fun to wash dishes by hand for a while; Fun to learn to fix an appliance. Interpreting the situation had been positive, from the time it broke to the time I fixed it. My emotions followed suit.
A broken dishwasher could have created all kinds of worrisome thoughts. I could fret over the fact I cannot not afford a repairman. I could have gone on and on at how terrible my life is feeling at the moment and how sick I am of things breaking down. My emotions could have felt very negative. If I had not chosen to turn around to thoughts that were less based on worry, these negative emotions would become more intense.
In the book Getting To Better: Learning To Read Emotional Messages, we can read:
The element of surprise often awakens us from complacency where we coast away from a happy state. We sometimes think of happiness as an unconscious state. Happiness is conscious and when we drift away from consciousness, our emotions will relay our proximity to the happy state we wish to be in. The more negative our emotions, the further away we are from the state of happiness.
The emotions we experience with each situation can be helpful. They can tell us how off track we are. Think of emotions as non-judgemental guides stating the facts of your proximity to where you want to be. Emotions are your friends.
