It’s sometimes difficult to consider all of the good things out there when I get obsessed with the election, the economy, the potential loss of jobs, the natural disasters, the disease, the wars.

And I too struggle with thinking that if I just try a bit harder, I can get everything “right” and then I won’t have to worry about things (I am quite a worrier). But things never do get perfectly in place, so those who have the attitude that the will get the chores done and THEN play will never actually get to play. There will always be work. Even those things that you work so hard to do RIGHT will often unravel.

It’s not a bad thing, of course. It just IS. The problem, I find, is that I have unrealistic hopes and expectations. When I set the bar too high, the old phrase “Shit happens” pops into my head. But “good shit” happens too, as you acknowledge. It’s not just here and there that we encounter these treasures. It’s everywhere. It’s a rare day when someone, a complete stranger doesn’t engage in one of those random acts of kindness, and where I’m the recipient. It must have happened 200 times to me in the last month. Sometimes it’s a smile, or someone holding a door. Sometimes, it’s someone who offers substantial time or encouragement. Sometimes it’s a person who offers a quality friendship. How is it that I deserve such gifts?

Yeah, life is crazy. But that’s not always a bad thing.