Getting Personal on my Frustrations, the Serenity Prayer & Romanticizing “What-Ifs”

Hi, friends. Today’s post explores a few things on my mind, and it incorporates some whining, some philosophizing, some taking responsibility…you name it. 😉

Dealing With Frustration

I have been vulnerable with the emotional struggles I face. I have written posts on petty pity parties and getting out of the pit. As a wheelchair user, my limited abilities cause me to have less control of my life–running errands is an ordeal, I can’t clean or exercise or anything to the extent I would like, etc. My living situation exacerbates my frustration. In a house where I live upstairs and everything is downstairs, so many things lie outside of my control from what I eat to when I can leave the house, etc.

I know that I come off as a strong and joyful person, and most days, I do feel that way. But, despite my faith and determination and ambition, I’m still just a person. Some days are hard, y’all. As I write the rough draft to this post, I’m having “one of those days.” Typing out my feelings is already taking its therapeutic effect, though.

There’s something I’ve been pondering for the last hour that is helping me get back to a can-do attitude–the serenity prayer.

The Wisdom of the Serenity Prayer

The serenity prayer is famous for its straight-forward yet profound wisdom:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference. 

It’s easy to get so caught up in a storm of emotions that I flush rationality down the drain. If I can try to think clearly in the midst of the blues, I can stop wading in my misery and start finding solutions to my problems–if not all then at least some.

Some of my complaints, like needing help up and down the stairs to reach my car, are inflexible. I do not have access to a full kitchen. I cannot control when my laundry gets done. I get bogged down by the things I can’t control. However…

I do have a fridge and a microwave, so I can pay my boyfriend who works at a grocery store to buy healthy fresh and frozen meal options. I can clean and straighten up some things from a seated position (and relentlessly pester my family to help with things like vaccuuming). I can pay a friend to help me clean my car. [Update: I convinced my dad to wash my car by saying it could be his birthday present to me. And we’re going to start using a cleaning service. Yay!]

Being Realistic

Realistically, I will always have problems. I want to move to a one-level house, but while it’s hard to see right now, I’m sure that living on my own will have a different set of frustrations. Right now, I wish I could cook more vs. eating drive-thru, but who knows–maybe I won’t have the time or the motivation once I have the freedom to do so. I ponder how I would never have a dirty car if I were able-bodied, but maybe I would–not every able-bodied person in the world has a clean car.

I guess this is what I’m getting around to: musing on “what-ifs” usually involves romanticization, while feeling sorry for one’s self tends to involve the opposite–thinking things are worse than they really are.

We take for granted the good things we currently have while imagining that life would be perfect with a few tweaks to our circumstances. We all have reasons to be thankful, and life will never be perfect.

Lord, help me see things clearly to appreciate my blessings and find ways to address my complaints rather than letting them suck me bone-dry of gratitude. Help me trust that You will work all things to the good.

Thanks for reading my ramblings. I’m off to do a home workout then straighten up my bathroom in the hopes of inducing some “feel-good” hormones along with some cathartic feelings of accomplishment. [Update: I worked out, which did help, but I didn’t clean. Alas, I want a clean home in theory but tend to procrastinate when the rubber meets the road.]

What are you frustrated about in your life? Let’s commiserate in the comments. Also, I’d really appreciate some healthy meal suggestions that are doable with a fridge and microwave.

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