If you didn't read yesterday's post, then I suggest you do, so you'll be in the loop.
Where did we leave off? Oh, yes, it was raining in my bathroom. Good times.
Bathroom pre-hole in ceiling:
It continued to rain in my bathroom for several days. Since the holidays were approaching, no one was available to fix it, so I just had to hold my breath and hope that it didn't wash away while I was home.
Fast forward to 2009 - Monday, January 12th to be exact. The plumber knocks a big hole in the ceiling of my bathroom, then decides to see if my upstairs neighbors are home. They're not. And I'm not sure if they've been here all year.
Since they weren't home, he couldn't find out what was causing the leak, so he left me with a big hole in my bathroom ceiling.
I waited all day Monday - no neighbors. I waited all day Tuesday - no neighbors. I was promised that the plummer would be here at 10am on Wednesday morning and my apartment manager would meet him to open up my neighbors' apartment so he could experiment with their pipes (and hopefully not find any dead bodies).
Famous hole in my bathroom ceiling:
Late Tuesday night I found out that the plumber would not be coming on Wednesday because he had a funeral to attend (hmmm...this dead body thing is really happening - just not with my neighbors) - so we rescheduled for Thursday morning at 9:45am. I'm not sure why I'm giving such great detail with time - yet I guess every minute counts at this point.
Turns out my neighbor was staying with her mom (she just had a baby - the neighbor - not her mom) so thankfully no dead bodies to deal with on top of the plumbing and the hole in my bathroom ceiling.
This time the plummer got to the bottom of the issue. Every time the apartment above me flushed their toilet, water leaked out of the pipes (clean water, not used toilet water thank goodness).
Okay so back to me waking up angry on Wednesday morning. I couldn't shake my feelings which hasn't happened for a long time. I finally asked myself - What the heck is really going on with this anger and what is really bothering me?
After a bit of contemplation, I realized that I was sick and tired of everyone else's needs being of greater value and more important than mine. Instead of my needs are equal to your needs, I felt like my needs were being pushed to the back of the line.
Then I asked myself - What I can really do about this situation to make it better?
I can start focusing on what's going right and what I can learn from this situation. I figure I'm growing and learning and each challenge gets a bit tougher as I go - which is a good thing.
I look at it like this - If I started off playing t-ball, then I wouldn't be pitched the ball (which is much harder to hit). When I mastered t-ball, I can move onto softball on a grade school team. Once I get a bit older and wiser, I can play baseball in high school. If I practice enough, the I can play baseball in college - which increases my skill and gives me more challenging opponents. As I move up to playing as a pro on a farm team, then I'm surrounded by higher-skilled players - which will, in turn, help me to grow as a player. Eventually, I can play at the Olympics and in the professional league - if I'm willing to accept the challenge.
What are my options? I can choose to hang out and be the best t-ball player ever or I can accept the challenges that come with the climb to higher levels of play and become the best player I can be.
My choice - choose to accept the challenges and see them as learning the skills to play on a higher plane. Once I saw this challenge as confirmation that I'm advancing and learning more, then I learned to love the hole in my ceiling.
Plus - the plumber wasn't here very long each time (3 hours the longest) and I had more freedom in my day!
Talk about hole-ly bliss!
What are you willing to choose for yourself? How can stepping back and allowing yourself the space to think support you in seeing the bigger picture?
I'd love to hear your comments and discoveries.
Go with the flow. Ride the waves come to mind. What a mess. And again a total disruption to my sense of order, even when it is your home and not mine. You have tremendous patience Kelsey. As you said what choice do you have? There is the ranting and raving choice which generally achieves no results and suggests you are two. In these situations I tend to go with it when it is under way, focusing on the joy of a successful conclusion. I am always extremely grateful when the problem has been solved and the solution is being implemented. I vision how happy I am going to be when it is all over.
Posted by: Toni | January 16, 2009 at 10:55 AM
It is with our passions, as it is with fire and water, they are good servants but bad masters. Do you agree?
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