*originally written Nov 19, 2019

Week 5: Life is hard.

Now there’s a profound statement, right? I bet I’m not telling you something you didn’t already know. Well, we all know that in this world we will have troubles. We all know the things we deal with personally, and we’re often reminded to be kind to others and how we don’t know what they’re going through. Maybe they’ve just lost a loved one, received a scary diagnosis, have a child serving overseas, endure daily physical pain, have little kids that never sleep, hate their job, or maybe they’re just nasty and hateful. Who knows? Imagine if we all just lived according to The Golden Rule: Treat others the way that you would like to be treated. In the Bible it’s said more like this, and I paraphrase: Love God with everything within you, and love your neighbor as yourself. We truly never know what is going on in the lives and hearts of someone else. We would all do well to remember that when someone forces us to flip on our blinker and merge onto the offramp that leads to the high road.

I once read a poem called “Sandpaper People”. I wonder if I could find that again. 🤔Anyway…it has to do with the people who are irritating, rough, and rub up against us wrong. These people are everywhere, aren’t they? Some are a one-time deal in line at the store or while driving. Some are people we must encounter repeatedly in our jobs or at the school drop off/pick up line. I may very well, albeit unintentionally, be someone else’s Sandpaper Person. (Sorry about that, but allow me to explain.) The gist of the poem is that these people rub at us and, as annoying or even painful as it may be, they polish us into a more refined version of ourselves. We all have rough edges that need some smoothing. When I irritate you, please keep in mind that I’m polishing you, and I’ll do the same. Deal? 😉