I found actual dog shit in my bed!
Allow The Shit To Be Shit
A couple weeks ago I was talking about Getting Real About Gratitude where I mentioned that things aren't always pretty but that we can still find beauty by looking at the ugliness with a grateful heart. Well that was put to the test yesterday when I discovered dog shit in my bed! Yes, actual dog excrement. In my bed. More specifically on my clean sheets and blankets that I had just laundered.
Wow! What a lesson was in here. So yeah, I was not grateful for having shit in my bed. I did not ignore the shit in favor of looking at the clean side of the sheets. I looked right at that shit but did not find gratitude there. What I did find gratitude for in this situation:
- I was grateful I noticed the shit before I got into bed with it.
- I was grateful that I have a washer and dryer in my house.
- I was grateful that it wasn't on my carpet.
What a great reminder that some shitty situations are just that. We can allow the shit to be shit. We don't have to glitter-coat it with gratitude. We don't have to make it OK or make it beautiful. Some situations are just shit. And that is OK. The trick is to not live there. We don't have to let shitty situations define us. We can notice them. Notice our feelings. Allow them. And move on. Just because we have one shitty situation doesn't mean it will always be shitty. It doesn't mean that everything is shitty. And just because something is shitty doesn't mean we won't find gratitude.
I am grateful for the reminder.
Now I am off to give my dog a bath.
The worst things that happen also don’t define us. There’s more to our struggle with this that’s alive and potentially redemptive.
~Krista Tippett
What are you grateful for about this shitty situation?
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