Today’s journal entry is a bit tongue-in-cheek. It contains a series of complaints about yesterday. However, I have little to complain about. I am incredibly blessed with a good life surrounded by good people. The news is filled with victims of injustice, those who have suffered sudden and traumatic loss, people who have been oppressed, racism, war, and tragedy. I am not a victim. It is just that some days don’t go the way I had hoped.

Have you ever had one of those days? I have.

By the end of yesterday, I was in a funk. I was ready for the day to end and hoped for a better day today.

Have you ever begun your day by writing a couple of apologies when you had done nothing wrong? I have.

Sometimes, the best way to keep the peace is a well-timed apology. A couple of committees were caught in a lack of communication. I’m not sure why it happens, but it is common in the church for people not to share information. I guess there is some power in knowing something that others do not, but there isn’t much power in the church in the first place. I advocate openness and don’t like secrets in the church. But in this case, the way to keep people working together, in the long run, was for me to say that my lack of understanding had been the problem instead of naming a failure of communication and an attempt to keep information from others. Rather than point a finger and lay blame, writing a couple of emails in which I confessed to a lack of understanding allowed people to keep working together without conflict. It is hard to explain without making others look silly, but I had stewed about the situation the night before, and I woke up ready to write the notes and get on with business. Still, it left a bit of a foul taste in my mouth and put me in a bit of a funk for the rest of the day.

Have you ever needed to be patient when you wanted to be impatient? I have.

I do business with a small bike shop in our town. It is a new business that I want to succeed. The owner runs it without any other employees. He will go out of his way to help customers. If you have a problem, he’ll drop what he is doing to help you. The result is that sometimes it takes him longer to get tasks done than he imagines. There can be a lot of interruptions when you are running the business single-handed. I needed a minor repair on my bike, so I asked him a week ago what day would be best for me to bring in my bike. I brought it in promptly on the day he indicated. When I dropped it off, expecting him to complete the repair the same day, he said he would get to it the next morning.

I didn’t complain. I gave him the extra day and then one more. When I stopped in yesterday after he had the bike for more than two days, he said, “I’ll get right on it after I finish the job I’m working on.” I said, “No worries, and walked home because I had walked to the shop expecting to be able to ride my bike home. Later, he called me and said, “Did you know you have a broken spoke?” I had taken the bike to him for the broken spoke in December, and for various reasons, he hadn’t gotten around to making the repair. I thought he could easily make that repair on this trip and had mentioned it to him, but somehow, he forgot it. When I reminded him, he said, “O, yea, I remember. I’ll get right on it.” I didn’t get my bike yesterday and may not get it today. I know that when I do, the charge for the repair will be fair, and the work will be well done. I’ll keep from expressing my impatience. The quirkiness of the owner is part of what I like about the bike shop.

Have you ever discovered that something you wanted to purchase costs more than you are willing to pay? I have.

Earlier in the week, I made a business inquiry and received a call from the business while walking home from the bike shop. During the conversation, I discovered that something I had wanted to purchase would cost roughly three times what I expected. I probably can’t afford to make the purchase. The person who called me was honest and helpful; it was just that things weren’t what I had hoped. The item is something that I can live without, and I have time to look for alternatives. Then, to top off my day, I got a second call later in the day that was very similar to the first one. A call to determine the price of a potential home improvement was returned with an estimate about double what I expected. I’ll have to re-think that one, too.

Have you ever changed your plans because of the weather? I have.

We were in town yesterday while our granddaughters were at art class. Rather than make two trips, we decided to run a few errands and walk while they were in class. We started walking, but the wind and rain picked up enough that I decided to defer the walk to later in the day when the weather might be better. The weather never got better.

Have you ever agreed to something to end the conversation? I have.

Instead of walking, we dropped by a business to drop off some information. While we were there, we were invited into a salesperson's office. I know the salesperson, and while we are pleasant with each other, our values don’t line up at all. He proposed a deal, and I accepted it to end the conversation. It isn’t a bad deal, and things will work out well, but I’m not proud of the decision-making skills I displayed, and I’m probably more vulnerable to another of his deals in the future because I accepted this one so quickly.

Have you ever gotten to the end of one of those days and fallen asleep grateful? I have.

After a day that didn’t go as expected or wanted, I had dinner with my family and crawled into bed, especially grateful for their love and support. They are incredibly kind to me, even when I get grumpy. I woke up this morning knowing that I was loved and understood. That makes up for the day I had yesterday. Today’s bound to be better.