Actually just kinda wanted to start my day by saying, "Yeah! I was right: no more ant intrusions for 24 hours!"
Oh, I may not have bested them yet--we'll see what happens when I clean and change the feeder, and we'll see what happens when it rains. But, for today: triumph.
This rare chance to pat myself on the back makes me think of a dear friend who constantly corrects me and tells me that I am wrong. Not just wrong but Wrong with a capital W.
For a while I took this personally and more than once I was deeply hurt, even injured, by this barrage of words. But I don't have so very many friends that I can afford to sacrifice such an important one, so I endured.
What I have come to see is that the problem is not mine, that the unkind words are a response to the pain that my friend has endured. There is a good heart in there that does not know any other way to respond. Acknowledging this does Not mean that I see the behavior and the rude words as acceptable--it merely makes the matter understandable. And it reminds me to guard my own behavior in regards to the way that I treat others. I have learned to tolerate and to respond in my own good time.
A long time ago I wrote a list of Life Rules for myself. At the very top of that list is this:
The experience of pain teaches us two things:
how to cause it
how to cure it
We get to decide which response we will make.
I still believe in the wisdom of this, and I'm still choosing the latter option.
Life is good.
So are friends.
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