Another Reminder

I have a nice flashlight that I can shift quickly from wide to narrow beam. I try to keep it handy for my nighttime forays into the yard at 3 a.m. looking for deer and varmints and anything else that might poke its head up. But I couldn’t find it last night, and I didn’t know why. It was a puzzle because there aren’t that many places where I leave it after my nighttime adventures. I went back to bed, a little sad.

On another note, I suffer from a dry eye from a long-ago bout with Bell’s Palsy. I keep drops handy to lubricate it, but occasionally I also need a cold, wet rag to help salve the eye after the drops go in. This morning I put in drops and needed the wet washrag. I went to the bathroom, opened the cabinet, bent down for a cloth, and saw the light as if an angel of the lord was waiting. It was only my nice flashlight, however, burning bright where I’d left it after cleaning the sink drain in preparation for my company Saturday.

It was a reminder once again that the causes of my grief are mostly self-induced, and that if I’m able to hold myself in, little action is required to solve most problems, because most of my problems are imaginary. Time becomes my friend. Calm is the balm that oils the waters of my soul and keeps the turbulence at bay. It’s a lesson late in the learning, but one that has proven itself useful in my latter days.