May 16

 

The 16th day of this Blog Every Day in May challenge has arrived.  Today's topic is Something difficult about your "lot in life" and how you're working to overcome it.  Here we go.

Hmmm…

Today’s topic is a toughy.

I am not sure I really understand the topic but what the heck, I’ll give it a whirl.

I guess I don’t really believe we have a “lot” in life.  We make our own opportunities and some things happen by chance.  When life stuff happens, we can choose what kind of perspective we have surrounding our circumstances.

There was a time after we got married when Bobaloo and I were really struggling.  The job market was miserable and good any jobs were hard to come by.  We were fortunate to always be able to put a roof over our heads and food on our table, but money was always too tight for comfort and we were stressed.  It didn’t make sense; we worked so hard and didn’t deserve this.

At the time the lean years were miserable and frustrating; looking back they seem like a gift.  Out of the tough times, I learned that Bobaloo and I would do whatever we had to in order to take care of one another.  Even when that meant taking awful, awful jobs and dealing with awful, awful people.

I remember sitting on the patio with Bobaloo one night and laughing our heads off at how things couldn’t possibly get any worse.  And then they would.  This cycle repeated itself multiple times.  It was at this time when I think Bobaloo first thought up the phrase love-rich as in, “We may not have much, but baby, we’re love-rich.”  And it was true.  I am not so naïve to think that all you need is love, but love and a sense of humor can sure get you through some crappy times.

Gradually we both caught some breaks and now things are a lot better and much easier.  Some of the breaks were because of hard work and persistence and some were just dumb luck.  The good stuff has been all the more sweet because of the tough stuff.

I have been both up and down and at times felt stuck or like I couldn’t get out of my “lot in life” no matter what I did.  The important thing is, no matter where I was or whatever my situation may have been I have always found kindheartedness in the people around me.  Life has gotten easier in the last year or so, but I try to remember that others are still stuck in their “lot” and the importance of returning the thoughtfulness I was shown.