It is actually great to have even small things go wrong. It breaks up routine. It forces you to use your skills of tolerance and control.

Today, on a warm sunny day, I headed to swim at the community center. It was rush hour. It took me 30 minutes to get there. Then, when I arrived, I learned the pool was closed for lifeguard training. I’ve never had that happen. So back home I drove, and got stuck in the late evening traffic jam from the hills of Portland to my home. It was slow, and it’s a drag on nice nights.

I used to sit in this traffic jam daily for nearly two years, when I drove 100 miles a day (there and back) to Salem, usually in the car more than three hours total a day. It was brutal on me. It was also a very hard time when my mom was near death and I was running on fumes. At that moment tonight, I felt blessed. I was now working at home, I am pretty good with my job, and my mom’s suffering has long passed. Her journey had ended, and that was good.

I needed this reminder to be thankful of how far things have come from those days of little sleep and a lot of stress. Here’s a little thing I spotted near my home a few years ago. It rings true for me.