Perspective

This week I had something happen to me at work that was a huge shock.  I was suddenly cut back on my hours, which resulted in a pay cut as well.  I was not expecting it, so when I got the e-mail, it was a big slap in the face.  Part of this was the pure unexpected blow.  Part of it (well, most of it) was pride.  I'd thought I was doing a good job- why did my hours get cut?  It turned out that it was no reflection on my performance, but simply because our enrollment had gone down.  I could understand that, but I still shocked and hurt about my hours.

I don't know WHY it hurt my feelings at first.  When I think back on it, I see how stupid it was for me to take something like that personally.  But I did.  For about twenty-four hours I stewed over and sulked about it.  Scott tried to comfort me because the pay cut really wasn't that bad because we'd used our tax return to pay off a couple small bills in addition to laying sod in our back yard.  That meant we could afford a little bit of a pay cut.  But it wasn't so much the pay cut as it was just being reduced that upset me. 

Then, the day after this happened, my sister said something in an e-mail that changed my whole perspective.  She commented that the slightly fewer hours meant I could play with the girls more.  Just that one comment suddenly dissipated the dark cloud I'd had about it.  I started looking forward to the few more hours per week that I'd have as free time.  I no longer resented the change.  I wouldn't have chosen it if they'd asked me, but I didn't resent it anymore.

What I learned from this experience is two-fold.  1) There is ALWAYS a silver lining.  That silver lining may not be immediate, but it will present itself eventually if we look for it.  2) When we do what the spirit prompts us to do, we are prepared for things.  We were able to pay off two small bills with our tax return and the money we got from our van being totaled (that's a different story altogether...).  That meant that while we will still notice the smaller paycheck, it won't matter with any essentials.  What a huge blessing that we were given a way to cut our monthly budget just in time for such a change.  We didn't know it was going to happen, but Heavenly Father did and he prepared us for it.  I have several theories about why we were prepared in such a manner, and obviously I have no clue if any are the correct reason.  It could be a result of the fact that we pay tithing. It could be a blessing from us paying into the ward mission fund.  It could just simply be because the Lord loves us.  In any case, we were prepared.

Remember to look for the blessings with the trials.  Maybe the car broke down right before or after payday so you could afford to fix it.  Maybe someone you love got really sick, but as a result you gained a better understanding of the Atonement.  Just a thought.