The No Good Very Bad Day

My first two posts were somewhat; ahem, somber to put it lightly. In fact after writing, posting and then reading comments my eyes were drained with every tear that could be extracted from them. My husband jokingly said that maybe he should create a blog about how much I cry. In lieu, I have a much more lighthearted story.

All of us have had an experience of a cataclysmic event in our lives. Can you think back to that one thing that set the rest off? A domino effect if you will. Our catalyst was our 52 inch flat screen TV.

It is so difficult to keep toddler boys entertained. Mine are so full of energy all day long that in the winter and early spring it’s hard to find things for them to do when you have to be indoors. Not only are they destructive but they are messy. I swear I need a girl to outbalance the mess, stink, and broken articles around my home – and I’m including my husband in that! Well that day was no different. The kids had foam bats and we were playing baseball in the house. Yes I realize that was my fault but what was I to do?

Hayden (my youngest) suddenly swung the bat next to the TV and at the very tip of the bat was a hard plastic nodule that hit squarely on the screen. I jumped up in horror as I saw the crack move across the screen and then everything went black. My kids sensed the gravity of the situation because they both took off to the laundry room to hide.

I wouldn’t say that Allan was angry. Shock was more like it and there really was nothing we could do to fix it. Because it was a “bargain buy” when we got it that translated to “not fixable.” Instead we set up our tiny computer monitor to run our TV, movies, and regular computer since we had no money to replace the old one.

So that set off a series of events that we have blamed on that television set ever since! Allan lost his job a few weeks later, next the 2^nd car we were using from my parents broke down, I spent the summer slaving away in the hospital, and we miscarried. How could one TV do so much damage?

I hope all of you have met my husband. He’s very funny, he’s athletic, and he has a nerdy passion! Video games! Not so much the playing (well at first it was) but now it has turned in to a once a week podcast. Allan had a conference in Seattle that was all paid for so we decided to turn it in to a family weekend and drive up and stay with my Aunt Julie while he went to it.

Now when I say that this was a nerd fest I mean it!! There were young and middle aged men who went to hear about the latest video games coming out. When I was downtown I saw people dressed up as their favorite video game character! It’s completely bizarre to me! I mean I don’t go to conferences and dress up as my favorite character from a book! Otherwise I would be sporting some serious Jane Austen styles. No I reserve those for Halloween.

Well on one of their conference nights they had a big fundraiser downtown for The Childrens Miracle Network. Allan was entrusted with the bucket that held the cash they were collecting since he would be the ONLY sober one that night! In fact Allan said that the more drunk people got the more money they freely gave. Lesson learned – Drinking + Benefit party = No cash!

At the end of a very profitable night for the charity Allan stayed behind to clean up. As they were packing up the head owner from the website told Allan that the 32 inch flat screen TV they had purchased for the use of the party now belonged to him! He said they remembered that his son had broken our flat screen and that he was out of a job. Allan was so surprised and so grateful. Just like that our TV had been replaced.

Good times were supposed to be around the corner now that we had a new TV to replace our last catalyst catastrophe!

Then I started thinking; what things have we been blaming our misfortune on? For us it was a TV. It could be anything or any one person. The challenge is how you decide how it will affect you. For so long we blamed all the bad luck we had on that metal box. Now I am grateful because really we didn’t need that big thing in our life literally or figuratively. As soon as I was able to let that go, I realized how many blessings we’d received out of those domino effects.

So whatever your catalyst was/is/or will be remember that it will lead you to greater happiness if you let it.