There are just some days like that aren't there?  Do you know that one's I am talking about, when you get up and you still feel tired.  You look out of the window and it is raining and you have to be somewhere in less than an hour and you haven't left yourself enough time.  As you then go through something relatively mundane like shaving or brushing your teeth, the self talk starts up - your inner dialogue and, if you let it, it will speak to you unkindly and convince you that the pieces to this jigsaw puzzle of a day just don't fit.

My day started out this way today.  Having had some sort of a stomach bug for the last 4 days I also realised that my psychological state reflected my less than chipper physiological state.  I allowed myself to feel grumpy and hard done by and anticipated my day ahead.  I was not looking forward to it.  I would really rather have crept back into bed and slept, that would of course have been fine had the cleaning lady not just turned up.  As I went downstairs to say hi to her, I asked in a superficial kind of way if she was OK and was about to carry on with what I was doing when she told me she was not great.  I thought she might be sick.  I enquired what was wrong.  She told me that she was trying to get flights to Pristina in Serbia to visit her family.  I learnt that her mother had sustained a fall, broken several bones and was undergoing surgery to remove a blood clot on her brain as a result of head injuries.  Suddenly my pieces seemed to fit a whole lot better than hers. 

I 'had a word with myself' and quickly re-aligned my model of the world based on somebody else's challenges.  There is always somebody who is experiencing something tough or emotionally and/or physically challenging.  I was suddenly very humbled that this  lady with so much worry and concern on her mind still saw fit to come to my house and work.  I could only offer her my comfort, support and prayers for her mother.  The gift she gave me was far richer, she made me realise something very important that was once quoted by Virginia Wolf "arrange whatever pieces come your way".  Thank you Zada.  My prayers go to your mother, to you and your family.