Surviving A Sea of Frustration With A Smile

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Life has been terribly glamorous this week. Not really. It's actually been a little tedious. I'm trying to learn lessons about problem solving, patience, nudging customer service employees a little harder when needed and going with the flow.

I have made multiple repeat trips to several stores this week to buy things, return things and try again to find the item I really need. A vicious circle. I've been to Radio Shack too many times. It's not their fault. It's actually my satellite provider's fault and I am getting very frustrated. I spent five hours yesterday working on trying to get my satellite dish software updated. After multiple phone calls over the past two months, I'm about three millimeters closer to solving my problem than I was at the start. Each new call is a long process to repeat the whole entire saga and that is only after I jump through a mile of "recorded customer service lady conversations." Then I get an entirely different set of suggestions and in the end absolutely no resolution. Sigh.

The night before last the earth's techtonic plates had the nerve to toss us a good, scary earthquake. I've been through lots of earthquakes and some bigger than this one. But this one sounded like a train was coming through the living room then there was a big jolt and shake then the train just kept going south. It was pretty creepy and quite a few long-time Angelinos I talked to yesterday said it freaked them out. So quite a few of us didn't get a great night's sleep. I honestly thought it might just be the beginning of a bigger something about to come. That one scared me and didn't help me feel rested yesterday.

If I were holding tight to a list of accomplishments this week I would probably be in a very dissatisfied mood. But I'm trying to learn to go with the flow when necessary, ask for help when needed, and keep trying when things don't solve themselves easily. Writing this post has helped me see my week more clearly and see what there is to learn from it.

Last night as I sat pondering, I enjoyed a cup of my favorite tea and a few bite-size cookie treats from my very kind neighbor who so graciously tried to help me with my satellite woes. I knew that even though it's been frustrating. I really don't have much to complain about. I sat and counted my blessing. There are so many. There is just no reason not to be gentle, sweet, patient and kind. I think I did okay. I was kind to all the satellite techs I talked to, I was kind at Radio Shack every time, I showed gratitude to my neighbor many times, I didn't spend any time being angry. Maybe that was my greatest accomplishment yesterday - to walk through a sea of frustration with a smile. If that was my charge for the day, then I accomplished everything I needed to.