Yes, I am that person who will glue the tabs of a puzzle back down. Those of us who had parents who lived through the great depression or hard times learned this lesson young. If something broke, we would repair it. If we wanted something nice, we figured out how to take something old and give it a fresh look before buying something new. I can only remember a couple times when mom bought me a Halloween costume. Otherwise I had to dig through the musty box kept in the rafters of the garage and pull something together from there to reuse or renew something by creating something from what I had available.
Today it seems we live in a throwaway society. If something is broken, throw it away and get a new one. If something is out of date, donate it to charity and get a new one. And the one that breaks my heart and I’ve seen over and over: if a dog misbehaves, take it to the pound and get a new one.
My dog, Duke, was taken back to the pound 3 times. And he is a GREAT dog! He had some behaviors that needed attention. That’s all. Anyone who knows him can see what a loving and well-behaved guy he is. And God help us, this happens to people too.
What about when we feel like our life is SO FAR out of control that we can’t imagine pulling it together? This, like many things is something we can make new without throwing the old out. Each day our bodies sluff off skin to make way for the new healthy skin underneath. What a miracle of creation we are! Each day, we are given another opportunity to repair unhealthy behaviors and bring into our lives habits and attitudes that will absolutely make our lives better. We are given another opportunity to build and nurture relationships. We can reach out and expand our world with new knowledge and skills. Each day we are given the opportunity to make different choices.
You don’t have to start from scratch and it doesn’t have to be dramatic. Do what you can with what you have where you are. One woman, I admire greatly, decided she was going to cut out sugar from her life. This is a goal far bigger than I thought possible. Yet she did it; one food item at a time. And she did it slowly so that it wouldn’t throw her body into withdrawals. There are videos and countless stories of people who came back from tragedies we can imagine. They did it one step, one choice at a time. They are an inspiration and show us that what may feel like is impossible IS possible.
Today and every day you have a choice. Is this the life you want? What are you going to do about it? Don’t throw yourself away. You can be just about anything you can dream of one choice at a time.
