Temporary and Perfectly Acceptable Solutions

What’s going on with you right now? I’m willing to bet that your heart is breaking for someone you know who is dealing with a tragedy. I’m willing to bet that you have a child that you’re really worried about. I’m willing to bet that there is something you don’t like about yourself and you think about it every day. I’m willing to bet that you have some major event coming up and it’s sort of looming up there, adding to your stress.
ALL of those things and more are going on here.
I could talk about service. I could talk about action. I could talk about preparation and hard work and a set of beliefs, and it would all make perfect sense and be the proper way to get through all of it.
But my heart is breaking for someone I know who is going through a tragedy, I’m already doing the little amount that I can and my heart is still broken for them.
I have a child (make that four) that I’m really worried about, and I do everything I can every single day for them and I’m still really worried.
There is something (make that quite a few things) that I don’t like about myself… and I ate pretty healthily all morning until now when I downed a quarter of a bag of Peanut Butter M& Ms and realized I barely tasted them. It was the LAST quarter of the bag, or believe me the fraction consumed would be higher.
I have more than one major event coming up and what’s looming is the possibility that I could forget one all together, show up late, double book and have to choose between two, or burn the food I’m supposed to take with only minutes before the event starts. All of this seems really really really important too, until I remember the first thing on my list. My heart is breaking for someone I know who is dealing with a tragedy.
So I don’t want to write about all of the things that we should be doing and feeling. I’m going to write about the “I’ve done all I can and I’m still sad and I’m going to get my mind off of it for a little while before I lose it” fix. Here it is. Are you ready for it? It doesn’t even involve alcohol. It can even be achieved without chocolate.
It is a nice….. fluffy….. adventurous….. far away…… fictional…. solution that can make things seem quiet even when you’re still surrounded by noise. It can make you forget tragedy and worry. It can give you something pretty to look at in your mind. It can give you a hero to believe in. It can remind you of happiness and love and make believe.
It is a book.
And I’m not talking about a self-help book! I’m not talking about a biography! I’m not talking about a how to, or historical, or a deep, heavy, but gosh doesn’t it make you think or re-think or want to change and then decide you can’t and down what’s left of the Peanut Butter M&Ms book.
That’s why I’ve decided I’m not ashamed to say that I like fluffy fiction with happy endings and possibly mystical creatures. There is value in a book like that. It is okay to forget real problems for awhile and concern yourself with the hopeless human girl, in love with the fallen angel or the alpha werewolf forced to marry so that two packs can join together. It really is. Tell me it hasn’t been good for you! Tell me it hasn’t gotten you through a hard day. Give me one good reason why it’s wrong to just enjoy yourself for a little while. You can’t, can you? Now close the bag of Peanut Butter M&Ms. There you go. Open the book. Nice isn’t it? Don’t worry too much about the character's problems. Remember- faeries aren’t real, so it’s okay.
Finish the book by Monday and come back to read My True Love Story, won’t you? I’ll help you forget some more problems.