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Platform Challenge, Day 6

April 7, 2012

I am a day late in posting the task for Day 6 of the Platform Challenge but I have a very good reason.  Yesterday was a work day, of course, but after work my husband took me out to dinner and there is no way I’m saying no to a night out with my husband.  Since he too started a new job recently and his days off do not always match my own, we have to take advantage of whatever time together we can squeeze out of any given week.

You might wonder why I didn’t get right on the computer when we arrived home after dinner but going to dinner is just the beginning to a night out.  Once we arrive home we don’t separate and do our own thing, me on the computer and he in front of the television in his recliner…I’m glad to say after being together for 25 years we still like spending time together.  No, we take advantage of the time we have and we do something we’ve done ever since the very first day we ever met…

We play games.

I’m sure that’s exactly what you were thinking – I’ll give you a minute to get your mind out of the gutter.

Seriously, we love to play games, whether it’s cribbage, Mario Kart, cards, pool, board games, it doesn’t matter.  We both love to compete.  The very first day I ever met my soon-to-be husband was while I was playing a game of pool and he instantly fell in love with me when he saw I could shoot bank shots (I’m not joking).  I don’t think he realized at the time just how competitive I was when he challenged me to a game…can you guess who won? 

So I took the night off from writing but now I’m ready to get back to it.  The task for Day 6 was to read a blog post that spoke to us and then leave a thoughtful comment on it.  I scoured the list of blogs I read regularly and semi-regularly and I have to admit, none of them jumped out at me or really spoke to me…

Until I read Dale Mayer’s blog post on Magical Musings titled Easter – a new beginning!

Why did this particular post strike me when others did not? 

It wasn’t about writing, or building my platform, or how to finally finish editing my book.  It was about change and Easter and what this time means for you.

Dale spoke of the fact that changes in her life seem to always happen around Easter, for one reason or another.  Due to that fact, she looks at this time of year as a time to reflect on how she is doing with regard to her plans, her goals and her dreams.   

When Dale spoke about how the biggest changes seem to happen to her around Easter, she made me think about all the change that has occurred for me and my family the past six months…I have a new job, my husband has a new job, my oldest son has a new job and is also attending college, I wrote a book, I started a second book, and I created my blog.  The changes have been good but the varying schedules have been difficult to get used to for all of us.  I have never really been good with change and I’ve done my best to alter my attitude about change but this weekend hit a new nerve. 

What nerve could be struck during what should be such a pleasant holiday weekend? 

It was disappointment and even sadness when I realized my husband would not be celebrating Easter with me and the boys for the first time in 19 years.  It has been a traditional holiday for us and for the first time in my boys’ life, their dad will not celebrate the holiday with us because he has to work.  A new job means new hours.  The boys are old enough to understand but for me, it is a huge change in our routine for this holiday and not one I was taking lightly.

But then Dale went on to remind us that life is what we make it.  I could be miserable about the change and show my sadness about the fact that my husband was not spending the holiday with us or I could suck it up and enjoy the fact that I still get to spend the morning with my boys and the afternoon with family members who I enjoy spending time with. 

It’s all in the attitude and how you show your appreciation for what you have been given, rather than showing disappointment for what you feel has been taken from you.

How about you?  Have you read something recently that struck a chord when you least expected?  Did it cause you to seriously review your attitude towards anything in particular?  If so, share the post, whether it’s here or with others through your own social media.  You never know who else might appreciate it.