Thursday, September 09, 2004
Soaked, But Still Counting My Blessings
Today was another wonderfully gray, rainy day. Actually, the day started out with no rain at all, but the clouds were dark and heavy. Still, I managed to go to all my classes till 2 p.m. without a drop of liquid falling on me. I was happy about it and hoped that it would stay that way. My reasons for not wanting rain were a bit more than the usual. I had an outdoor field lab for 2 hours and 45 minutes.
You probably know where I'm going with this. So the minute my outdoor lab started, it started to drizzle. Whatever, that was bearable, but within minutes it turned into a complete downpour. As I stood there under my umbrella (which did no good in keeping me dry) trying to make out what the professor is talking about, I found myself thinking that I should be feeling totally miserable. Aside from getting soaked, and being in no mood to do a lab outside under these conditions, I was worried that my calculator, cellphone, and Ipod wouldn't make it through nearly 3 hours of intensive liquid bombardment.
I was physically there as raindrop after raindrop wet my shoes, my socks, my pants and my bag, and as the professor yacked on, but mentally I was probably a couple light years away. I found myself thinking that now--when part of me wants to scream "misery!"--would be a good time to count my blessings. So that's what I did: I have a wonderful family. I'm fortunate enough to go to a great (in some respects...) school. As much as I hate my dorm, I have a bed, and a roof above my head, and a place to shower. I have uhm... a meal plan, so I never go hungry. I'm healthy, and I'm fortunate enough to have a bunch of other things going for me.
Phew, that was good. It's so easy to get carried away when you're feeling down, and it's so easy to find a million things to complain about. But I guess it's also important to also take a moment to recognize that as bad as things may be, the end of the world isn't even around the corner. As No Doubt puts it, "...and when it's really bad, I guess it's not that bad." :)
You probably know where I'm going with this. So the minute my outdoor lab started, it started to drizzle. Whatever, that was bearable, but within minutes it turned into a complete downpour. As I stood there under my umbrella (which did no good in keeping me dry) trying to make out what the professor is talking about, I found myself thinking that I should be feeling totally miserable. Aside from getting soaked, and being in no mood to do a lab outside under these conditions, I was worried that my calculator, cellphone, and Ipod wouldn't make it through nearly 3 hours of intensive liquid bombardment.
I was physically there as raindrop after raindrop wet my shoes, my socks, my pants and my bag, and as the professor yacked on, but mentally I was probably a couple light years away. I found myself thinking that now--when part of me wants to scream "misery!"--would be a good time to count my blessings. So that's what I did: I have a wonderful family. I'm fortunate enough to go to a great (in some respects...) school. As much as I hate my dorm, I have a bed, and a roof above my head, and a place to shower. I have uhm... a meal plan, so I never go hungry. I'm healthy, and I'm fortunate enough to have a bunch of other things going for me.
Phew, that was good. It's so easy to get carried away when you're feeling down, and it's so easy to find a million things to complain about. But I guess it's also important to also take a moment to recognize that as bad as things may be, the end of the world isn't even around the corner. As No Doubt puts it, "...and when it's really bad, I guess it's not that bad." :)
