Equipping young women professionals with young families to find fulfillment, contentment and joy as mothers and home makers without losing sight of who they are as women.

Volume 12, Issue 28: Don't Wish Away The Bad

On a taxi ride to the airport yesterday morning I had to encourage myself to shake off the sense of regret and loss I was feeling. That morning I was doing a couple of things in my kitchen before I could leave for my trip. It was important to me that I reset the kitchen for the day and make breakfast for my family before leaving.

The last piece of the hustle was sitting down to eat my breakfast. My taxi was already waiting outside, so I was a bit anxious to wrap things up. Grabbing my lovely glass dish from the oven, my hands followed my multitasking mind, and before I knew it, the dish was on the floor - broken, with my sweet potatoes strewn all over the broken pieces of glass.

I salvaged what I could of the sweet potatoes and had my breakfast in a not-so-pleasant fashion. I knew I had to finish eating then sweep out the glass from the floor and clean up the mess, but at that moment, I just wanted to pretend nothing bad had just happened. But I couldn't shake off the fact that I had broken a glass dish I really liked.

It was when I was well on my way to the airport that I made the shift from feeling bad for breaking my dish. I asked myself and answered these questions: "Did I talk badly to my husband this morning? No." "Did I quarrel my son for something he didn't do right? "No." Did I go out of my way to leave my family well cared for? Yes."

Then I asked myself, "If this is the case, then where does a broken glass dish fit into all these?" And my answer was that in the grand scheme of things for just that morning, a broken glass dish is nothing to feel bad about. In the things that matter most, I had done well by the grace of God. And besides, glass dishes are easy to replace.

Before coming to this conclusion, I did wish that everything had gone smoothly that morning. That the one thing that went wrong didn't go wrong. But now I don't have remorse about it because it made me appreciate all the more the many things that went well that morning.

"The brilliance of the stars would be invisible without the vast darkness of space behind them. Do not wish away the difficult portions of life. They provide the contrast needed to appreciate the joyful moments." James Clear.

Resist the temptation to dwell on and fuss over the one thing that goes awry in your day or week or year. Rather consider it in the backdrop of all that has worked out beautifully, and all the things you have done well. Let the bad apple in your basket cause you to appreciate the many good apples in your basket.

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi