Thought I would take a minute to share one of my mantras:
"The sun ALWAYS comes up in the morning".
Even when clouds cover it, this is a true statement, like the laws of physics.
Last night, I was working on something for work. We have adopted a very complex "work-around" for a tool we have been using for years in order to accommodate a new database we are migrating our data warehouse to in Amazon Web Services. Anyway, I was just beating my head against a brick wall trying to make this one program I was working on run without aborting. Long story short - I couldn't see the forest for the trees. I was getting a little discouraged. BUT, my common sense told me that the solution would be obvious if I would just put it aside, hang with my family, get some sleep, and take another look in the morning. I found the problem in less than 5 minutes, it was a silly oversight, and I laughed at myself when I found it. I think my comment was "BONEHEAD!!!".
Over the years, like any folks who have been married and with a family close to 32 years, we have had our share of challenges. Like most people, we have made good choices and not so good choices, and we have learned from them. There have been evenings pouring over finances, worrying about a sick child, trying to be proactive about a bad situation, on and on! One thing I learned over the years from experience. If things look dark late at night, quit worrying about it and go to bed. The sun DOES come up every morning, and solutions come much better rested and with sunlight as part of the equation.
I'm not going to tell you that the perfect answer or total salvation always comes in the morning...that is rarely the case when there are problems. But I can tell you for certain that coping and dealing or a plan for digging yourself out of a hole comes much easier when you are rested and have put aside your worry for a few hours.
I used to work for this really wise sage of a boss years ago. She had another mantra that I want to share. She used to tell me "Denny, I like to pave the road before I drive on it". The context was if I screwed something up to tell her before it got out of hand. That woman ALWAYS had my back, and she trusted me, and it was a great feeling to work for someone like that. That philosophy has stuck with me over the years.
You might be wondering what the heck this is all about. We are living in troubling times. I am PARTICULARLY feeling for young people right now. They have their whole life ahead of them, and might be wondering what the future is going to bring. Some of you (and maybe me) might be struggling with loneliness, paying bills, illness, or many other things right now. Some of these things are out of our control. But for every 1 of those, there are probably 100 things or related things you can control or affect.
Even for a night owl like me, problems usually seem bigger than they are, or more hopeless, at night....particularly late at night. If you find yourself in this situation....repeat after me..."The sun ALWAYS comes up in the morning". It's a law of physics. Go to bed, get some rest, get up the next day, wipe the sleep out of your eyes, and take another look. The problem is likely still there, but see if a process to fix it doesn't come into focus. See if you can "pave the road before you drive on it"!
God bless!