On the Sweet Where You Live

People are sweet. I don't mean just the obviously kind, helpful and loving people, I mean all people. Beneath all the posturing, all the positionality, all the sticky icky stuff and habits that might indicate otherwise, people are just downright sweet. Now, granted, you can encounter some very finely crafted disguises out there and often some hastily constructed smokescreens. People go to great lengths to hide their sweetness. But I have seen it and I know. At the root of the root, in the heart of the heart, in the soul of the soul, an outrageous sweetness resides in the essential core of every human being. Every human being.

I have not met every human being, of course. It just occurs to me that if one or two or three of us have this sweetness, then all of us do. It only makes sense. The human blueprint would have to be fairly consistent in its essential elements, wouldn't it? So, I keep my eyes open. Sweetness is not always easy to spot. But every once in a while, like a bolt of lightening illuminating the darkened landscape, you see a furtive display. Once you've tasted it you're a junkie, looking for sweetness everywhere and often in the most unlikely places. Why? Because you know it has to be there. When you see it, you smile. When you don't see it, you look for it. If you still can't find it you lay in wait, you keep the faith and you know, you just know, it will reveal itself to you when the time is right.

Pollyanna Proliferation

Remember the old classic Disney film Pollyanna? I remember loving it as a child and taking its very wise message to heart. Pollyanna’s father taught her “The Glad Game” which was, in essence, to find the good in every situation. This game saw her through the toughest of circumstances. When Pollyanna was orphaned and living with stern old Aunt Polly she persisted in finding the good in every situation and seeing the good in the people around her despite their negative outlooks on life and habitually ingrained grumpiness. Sent to the attic as punishment, she admired the beautiful view it afforded. Given only bread and milk for supper she realizes she does, indeed, love bread and milk. Soon, with her youthful enthusiasm and unending gratitude for all life brought her, she melted the hearts of those around her and, by teaching them her secrets to enjoying life, enriched their lives immeasurably. Her perceptions of life changed the lives of those around her. Simple really, and yet a lesson I think we need to revisit time and time again.

 The term “Pollyanna” has entered our language as a description for someone who unfailingly finds the good in life, no matter the circumstances. In today’s fast paced, success-oriented, sophisticated and sometimes jaded world it often takes on a negative connotation, as if finding the good was hopelessly naïve and ignorantly unrealistic. I beg to differ.

 What if we all absolutely insisted on seeing the best in each other? What if we would take each person as they were, each situation as it came without trying to judge? What if we always looked for silver linings and knew, just knew they would be there? What if we took it upon ourselves to always bring good cheer, always lend a hand when needed, and always, without fail, without regard for what was in it for us, love others? Life would be transformed, that’s what, for us and for those around us.

 I aspire to be a card carrying, certified, state of the art Pollyanna. Yes, indeed, that is my new year’s resolution! Anyone else?

A Metaphor in Kitchen Chairs

My husband recently decided he was tired of our kitchen chairs and spent a lot of time on Craig's List trying to find new ones. Well, not new ones but solid old chairs he could refinish and have re-upholstered. He finally found a good prospect, drove seventy miles to see them and, yes, they were perfect! Chairs in tow, he heads home on the bumpy country road he had taken to get to the seller and hears a terrible noise coming from the brakes of his SUV. He finds a mechanic and spends several hours waiting for a loose bolt to be replaced or some such thing (I must admit I don't even attempt to feign interest in car repair details; I just want them fixed and running). A whole day and a half tank of gas later he pulls into the driveway with our new (but old) kitchen chairs.

I tried to be enthusiastic but I just couldn't seem to see the same potential in these chairs that my husband apparently saw. Still, I went along when he said we must go scouting for fabric to re-upholster them with, and much of a perfectly good Saturday was spent with this as a goal. It was my husband who finally spotted the perfect fabric, and I became warmer to the whole idea. It was a beautiful fabric and perhaps these chairs would be lovely after all.

The chairs had been refinished, upholstery fabric selected and off they went to the upholstery shop. We were excited; how beautiful our kitchen nook would look!An ad was placed on Craig's List for the old chairs and, as luck would have it, they were purchased and carted off the evening before the new (old) chairs were to come back from the upholstery shop. We ate dinner in the den that evening; no matter, we would sit in our newly reupholstered chairs the next night! Anticipation was building.

The dark clouds first appeared when the upholstery shop owner asked for $100 more than what he had quoted, and my husband had to drive all the way home to pick up the quote sheet to prove it to him. Payment finally agreed upon, the chairs were brought out. Those are not mine, said my husband. The frames, undoubtedly, were the same, but the fabric? No, that's not our fabric. Remnants were brought forth to settle the heated discussion, and it was discovered the chairs were recovered with the fabric we sent but the wrong side (which was the right side to the upholsterer). The upholsterer still maintains the fabric is right side out and since all this just happened last week, it is still unclear who will prevail in the argument. All I know is, we now have some very unattractive chairs to remind us that life very often gives us something very different than what we had hoped and planned for. It makes me giggle and I almost want to keep the chairs forever as a reminder that too much expectation of how things should be will trip us up every time. But my husband, bless his heart, is on Craig's List again.