As I write tonight, I'm tired and wishing I could have everything done that I want to do and be snuggled down in a warm bed for the night. I just realized that my joints aren't hurting as badly tonight, though. I'm thankful for that.
I had another story written in a Word document but the computer wouldn't save it. Instead of saving, my story just vanished it right off the screen. While this can be screamingly frustrating, I try to tell myself that the story was not meant to be like I had written it. Because I ask my angels to put words in my mind as I write, I must by the same token, accept rejections from them once in a while.
I'm going to try and write the same story in a different way and see if this one squeeks by. Please note that I will not be able to do a spell check this way. I am not,by nature, a good speller at all! Please be understanding with this one.
Tonight on the way home from work, I was running thousands of plans through my mind to do when I got home; take the dogs out; take the trash out; make a good supper for Valentines Day; get Jim's gifts wrapped and out on the table; do some laundry for work tomorrow; wash my hair; vaccum the house and tidy my bathroom at least.
When I get so busy and rushed there's one thing I always do that has been a bad habit since I was a child. I tear my nails to bits! The cuticles are bleeding and hangnails get ripped down the sides of my fingers. That's why I keep them professionally manicured with hard tips to protect them from getting infected and hurting all the time.
Of course, adding Valentines Day to a full schedule of work and writing another book and finding an Illustrator and keeping up with everything listed above caused a calamity with my nails again today. I ripped off the tips and dug into the sides of my nails until they were bleeding again. Hense a quick unplanned trip to the Nail Salon and frustrated demands for someone who could "get this done real fast".
"I'm really in a hurry. Can someone fix my nails real quick? I need to get home to get ready for Valentines Day for my husband. And, can I use your phone? I left my cell phone at home today."
Promising fast service, the gentleman offered me a cold drink and said he could do all my nails in about 20 minutes. (It usually takes about 45 minutes.) I didn't even sit back in the chair and relax, but leaned forward and kept looking at my watch.
This is a new place that just opened up very close to our home. It was my second time there and the nail tech thanked me to choosing them again. He worked gently but very fast.
As he finished up, another customer came over to complain to my nail tech about the salon. It dawned on me that it was the owner who had just repaired my nails.
"Your lotion is ice cold! And, why don't you have CNN on the TV? I like to keep up with the news! People don't like to watch Oprah all the time...."
He answered calmly that customers only stay a half hour or so, and that he would consider her idea to warm the lotion. But the irate customer hurried on out still complaining under her breath.
I had my hands under the nail dryer by then. The owner came over and leaned on the table to explain that he wanted his business to be a place where his customers could relax and "forget the bad things in the world for a few minutes".
Forgetting my rush and suddenly feeling badly for being selfish earlier, I asked myself to forget the things that I thought were so important a half-hour earlier. He talked about how his business keeps him busy 12-14 hours a day, and his customers are often in a hurry and worried about many things.
"This world is so bad. Nobody is happy. Everybody hears bad news all the time. People don't even want to hear good news anymore," he commented earnestly as he reset the timer on my dryer.
It wasn't until I noticed that he had reset the timer at least five times did I realize how long we had been talking. He said he has started meditating every night so he can let go of all the difficulities that he experiences with people during the day.
I told him a little about my life as a nurse and my writings. I gave him one of my angel cards (the picture of angel watching over the two little children on the bridge - like the front of my book, "Dusty Angels and Old Diaries"), and he gasped at its beauty and meaning.
Then he told me that he had a miracle story too. He said that he came to America on a ship and he had nothing to eat or drink for many days.
"When you have nothing but the ocean, you don't know if you will live or die," he explained.
As we walked together toward the front door for me to leave, he asked if he could have more cards to leave on the front desk. He told me if I would meditate for 15 minutes every night in front of a mirror, all my worries would be gone. "Pray to whatever God you believe in and you will feel like a new person," he said seriously.
"A bad person cannot look at themselves in a mirror," he said with a smile.
Those who know how I was raised as a very serious Seventh-day Advestist might chuckle at the thought of someone telling ME to meditate. But, his words were more special than any preacher I've heard and more real than any church service I have attended.
My friend needed someone to listen and I needed an angel to put me in my place. I don't even know his name, but I have 10 well manicured fingernails to remind me how simple life can be and how close the angels are beside us!
Take Care on the Journey,
~Linda
No comments:
Post a Comment