I just wanted to share this with you, it made me laugh, but first, I wish to fill you in with a little background first,

 This morning at 7.30, on my day off, Nick the handyman was round in my front garden, washing off the walls, preparing them to paint the house. Now I like Nick, I make him coffee, and we chat, he’s an old Greek man, from Lemnos, who came here in 1968, with nothing but the clothes on his back, and he tells me stories of how things were and how things are and all of his life in the middle. This morning I grumbled under my breath, so early to get up on my day off. I opened the front door and called out to him, “Coffee Nick?” he laughed and said he’d been here ages and thought I was never going to get up and make him coffee. I made coffee and we chatted for a while and he went off to carry on the work he started.

So I went back to the kitchen to start on the mess that has been waiting my attention for the last 24 hours, not really wanting to face it and knowing I had to, so there I began, washing up,  collecting the cups, glasses, plates and cutlery that my children had left around the house, cleaning the work tops, washing down the splashes on the kitchen cupboards, sweeping the floors, tidying the study, picking up the dvds left out, cleaning and dusting the lounge, mopping the floors, the children got up one at a time and no one offered to help, and all the while I was getting more and more resentful and moody.

This is not my mess, why do I always have to clear it up? Why don’t they offer to help? Why can’t they wash up their own stuff? Why don’t they pick up their clothes? Why can’t they put their shoes on the shoe rack, not the middle of the lounge? Why do I have to listen to Ryan’s dreadful rap music so loud? Why doesn’t Liam get up? After all I’m up and I had to go pick him up at 1am. Why doesn’t Alanna help more? Why do I have to go to work then come home and do all this? Why? Why? Why?.....................................

I could feel the anger and resentment rising, so, as I often do these days, I put my IPod in and listened to a Dharma talk. “Being Peace” There are several different ones and I pick them to my mood, or my moodiness!

“I breathe in and relax my body and mind,

 I breathe out and smile."

It goes on, I won’t bore you, but it helps. Then one Dharma talk went into the next and the woman talking said this, and this is where my story really began.

If you can start the day without caffeine or pep pills,

If you can be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,

If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,

If you can understand when loved ones are too busy to give you time,

If you can overlook when people take things out on you, when through no fault of yours, something goes wrong,

If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,

If you can face the world without lies and deceit,

If you can conquer tension without medical help,

If you can relax without alcohol,

If you can sleep without the aid of drugs.

Then.......... you are probably a dog!!

 

That made me smile, I was listening hoping for some enlightenment of how to achieve this blissful state and all I need to do is be a dog! Next time maybe? My mood lifted, and I wanted to share this with you. Many of you have battles and trials every day, just as I do. Just think Dog and it’ll all seem a little less. :0)