“One of life’s best coping mechanisms is to know the difference between an inconvenience and a problem. If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you’ve got a problem. Everything else is an inconvenience. Life is inconvenient. Life is lumpy. A lump in the oatmeal, a lump in the throat and a lump in the breast are not the same kind of lump. One needs to learn the difference.” ~ Robert Fulghum
I found this quote in the blog from Dennis Merritt Jones-author and speaker. This struck a cord with me. How often I do mistake an inconvenience for a problem. Fortunately I am learning to respond thoughtfully as opposed to just immediately reacting. I actually broke a few alarm clocks throwing them across the room because they rang- of course I was much younger. It reminds me of the bell that goes off in my mind when I use the words: never, always, must, can’t, and my personal favorite, should. I know they are just words but when I changed must and should in my mind to I choose to do something, it made a real difference. That old serenity prayer about knowing what you can change and what you can not change is real wisdom. I can only control and change myself and even that gets shaky sometimes. My thought for today. Just in case you think I am getting to serious I offer this prayer on a card my daughter gave to me.
“May those who Love us, truly Love us and those that can’t , May God turneth their hearts.
And if he can’t turn their hearts, May He turn their ankles so that we may know them by their limping.”
http://greatcosmichappyass.com/index.htm
mountainmae 
Very profound words to remember when we carp about little inconveniences. LOVE that prayer 😀
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It’s all about perspective isn’t it? I feel bad for myself because I have arthritis and can no longer do some of the things I’d like to. And then I learn that a friend has a prognosis of two to three years to live. Perspective.
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That is a great prayer!! Thanks so much for sharing it. 🙂
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Hey, is that why everybody’s been limping around me lately? 🙂
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Thank you- I really laughed aloud!
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Like that prayer Mountainmae. 😉 This is really food for thought. I am a great believer in the power of positive thinking, and positive action… if something negative happens, do something positive! (Obviously it doesn’t always work! 😉 )
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I live with the same philosophy of positive thought and it is what it is. Life is so full of surprises. The Great Cosmic Happy-ass card company has some really funny cards. Link in post.
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Studying lumps is a lifelong skill.
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amen
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That which strikes a chord or resonates with us is a messenger of import.
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Well the joke followed within a half hour of writing this. My septic system started bubbling up through the ground (heavy rains) and I said this is a problem. Then a diabetic friend called to tell me that she was driving home from the store, having a feeling of fainting, nausea and double vision. She wanted me to talk to her to keep her awake because she was only a couple blocks from home. She got home safely. Are either of these a problem or just inconvenience?
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