While I’m a fairly easy guy to deal with on most things, I am not so easy to get along with on a few issues. I don’t like being told that I can’t go to the post office or store, or be given a long list of things I have to do in order to take the dog for a walk. And it doesn’t make much difference knowing those telling me what and what not to do are doing it for my own good. I received a telephone call from one of my doctors saying they were postponing one of my tests due to the current virus. During the telephone conversation she asked how I was dealing with being at home. She said the picture Kaiser has on file shows me with one of my wide-brimmed western hats and she believed I love the outdoors. She was concerned that I wasn’t taking being sequestered at home very well. I lied and told her I was okay. The truth was that I caught myself sniping at my wife and yelling at the dog. Not a good combination.
It is strange to think that a little thing like staying at home can change you and the situation around you so quickly. I could yell and curse my wife and dog both but what would it change? I would have a hurt and angry wife, and a dog that only heard me yell “bla, bla, bla” and not understood a word. And to top it off, I’d still be required to stay at home. It is sort of like Mary Magdalene the day that Jesus was resurrected from the tomb. She saw the open tomb with no body inside. Now admittedly, that would raise a few questions, so God sent two angels who plainly told her Jesus had risen. But that didn’t stop her crying. Then she saw Jesus, who asked why she was crying and she mistook him for the gardener and begged him to show her where his body was and she would take care of it. Jesus had to call her by her first name to get her attention.
Sometimes, while we are riddled with grief or angered, we fail to see all the wonderful things around us. Mary almost missed the events of the most blessed day in the history of the world. Likewise, I can choose to snipe at my wife, yell at the dog and act like a fool. Or, I can grab all the free time I can to write and promote my books. Actually, it’s not a real hard choice to make, when you think about it.
