So maybe words are my thing. In a world dominated by photos, images, videos, reels, and memes… i’m the word guy. Awesome. or… classic.
This is what I want to be saying that the social media platforms don’t allow time for. This is what’s going through my brain. I came home today and the dishwasher wasn’t draining. I was icing my knee in preparation for a 12 hour ultra race I’m running in 2 days when my wife informed me of the faulty appliance.
I took a deep breath. I was on the couch. I was watching tv. My knee hurts. Was hurting. still is.
I did not want to work on the dishwasher. none the less, I got up and began the process.
Step 1 - Begin the process.
Step 2 - do not, under any circumstances, ever, no matter what, create a timeline. EVER. This is certain death to good attitude and victory to the ruining of days goblin that lives inside kitchen appliances (and car engines).
Step 3 - Don’t talk much. Nothing good usually comes out.
I fixed the dishwasher draining issue. Yes, it was user error on my part. Yesterday I installed a new garbage disposal and did not realize there is a cap, or a seal, inside the dishwasher drain pipe. There, bored yet?
No biggie. Only took like an hour to figure that out. Turned on the dishwasher to enjoy watching it drain and feel the warm satisfaction of accomplishment only to watch water start squirting from the bottom of the door.
deep breath
(google search) “Replace Kenmore dishwater bottom door seal” … scroll… scroll… YouTube video. Hmm. Ok… fast forward. Hm… I have those tools.
(google search) part #… ah. $4.52 part. aaaand. $8.99 in shipping. of course. It’ll be here Wednesday.
The kids are in bed. I haven’t eaten. but the house is quiet. What are these moments for? Why do we have days like today? We all have them. They are completely unavoidable. Nothing really went wrong. Nothing was really lost other than some time with my kids. It was just annoying. It was just not what I wanted to be doing with my day, or my time. It just threw me off. Maybe I’m writing this in an effort to get “un-thrown"? Not sure why I’m throwing myself around right now.
Back to the question. What do I do with days like today? Mostly I just want them over with. They can feel pointless and I hate that. Like having a 4 way stop where there is no traffic… ever. Whose idea was that? Results of living in a fallen world. I say that a lot. And I don’t like that one either. Like I’m just supposed to accept that everything is broken, has broken, or will break. So don’t get comfortable.
And it’s about this time that the words of an old acquaintance, Chip Dodd, comes to mind. Life is a shit sandwich and you’re starving to death. There’s no real winning. So the work becomes more about learning to suffer well than learning to not suffer. In my short working as a therapist, this is mostly what I find myself doing with clients. Learning to suffer well. Jesus talks a lot about suffering. he promises us we will suffer. and he promises us we will not suffer alone. well… there it is. I’m writing this so I don’t have to suffer alone. Welcome to my suffering! Isn’t it wonderful! I’m going to make some food.
rob
