I was maneuvering my car out of the building one day when I came face to face with an unexpected obstacle- a large pile of sand dumped on the driveway.
I was struck.
For a moment I tried to understand why someone would actually think this was a good idea. Flustered, I eased my way out, fortunate enough to get some help from a man nearby.
The drive to my workplace went on, in what felt like a trip to Anger City. I kept thinking about the situation and the sensible options that the men responsible have had and should’ve taken. “It’s a thoughtless act”, my mind pleaded.
Halfway through my journey, I caved in. I’ve acknowledged the fact that, it is what it is, yet hoped to change the situation if I can. I prayed, really hard, just because it’s too difficult to pray when you’re on the verge of getting mad. I asked for patience, for forgiveness, for tolerance, and I prayed for a miracle. Yes, a miracle- for a wonderful day despite an off start.
Less than half an hour, the brewing anger was gone. I parked the car and did my devotion.The issue slipped my mind until I came home later that day and saw the sand pile still there.
The area it now occupies reduced by a foot and a half. Not much, but certainly was an improvement. I stepped out of the car, a bit frustrated. I approached the man-in-charge and discussed the problem with him. He quickly said, “Everything will be gone by morning”. I trusted his word and retired the night peacefully.
I woke up the next day hopeful as always and guess what I found at the parking area. You can’t miss it, sand pile still there! I thought everybody else must have complained. The rest of the cars in the area are much bigger and longer than mine. Well, I had two options at that point in time, look for a shovel and deal with it myself, or just drive my way out again like the day before. Sadly, I didn’t have the luxury of time to play hero, so I opted for the latter choice.
Experiences such as this made me realize two things.
First: Knowingly or unknowingly, we create unnecessary obstacles for people around us. This happens when:
-we refuse to help a genuine need even if we can,
-when we irresponsibly carry out our tasks,
-when we don’t deliver our promises on time or when we don’t deliver at all,
-when we don’t go the extra mile even if our strength allows us,
-when we don’t put in the effort to exceed a leader’s or a client’s expectations or at least meet what’s being required.
In other words, this is the case whenever we fall short of the ideal standards we all do know.
Second: When we get too consumed with our own little world and our own comfort, it’s easy to complain about the slightest of nuisances. This stems from being used to a pampered existence.
We rarely give allowances to people’s mistakes.
We find it difficult to forgive a non-life-threatening wrongdoing.
We give our all, to petty fights.
We argue a lot.
We quickly go into tantrums like a kid not getting a candy treat on Christmas day.
We got this far knowing this shouldn’t be the case. We are blessed enough to breathe, to walk, to smell, to eat and to see.
The basics. The important.
As I was still brooding from the past days’ trouble I discovered an extra 100 bucks in my bank account. Puzzled, I checked to find out what it was. Surprisingly, I got a cash back from the bank for debit card purchases in the past two months! Awesome, right?! Then I realized, perhaps God knew all along that I’d be pretty annoyed when the sand pile incident happens. So this is Him telling me to not sweat it out and get over it. And maybe, just maybe, He would have liked me to go and buy myself an ice cream!
So, that’s what I did. I suppose I’m not so grown up after all, 😀
sundaewrites 