Sunday, February 17, 2008

It Should Not Be So

Continued from here, here, and here.
Continuing again with some thoughts on preventing leakage, I consider how much of our energy is absorbed each day contending with things, such as they are. It reminds me of an incident I had with Boo the other day. Her play jacket was awfully grimy, and I wanted to wash it. I instructed her to bring it to me, and she stood watching as I unzipped the down lining and removed the outer shell. "Cool!" she yelled, "I never knew it did that!" She continued to hover as I placed her favorite coat in the washer and added the soap. Her expression was pouty when I informed her that she would have to wear her "good" coat until this one was washed and dried, and be careful not to make a mess of it.

A short time later she was preparing to go out with her brother and Dad, and I saw her with the down liner on, trying to zip the front. Only it wouldn't zip because it was only designed to zip into the shell, not to itself. I explained to Boo, that although she could wear the outer shell as a light weight spring jacket, the liner was not made to wear alone. You should have seen the lip. In her mind this was a travesty of coat design. She should be able to wear that liner if she so chose. And I had to assure her she was wasting her energy being mad. Get over it, and if you want a three season coat, then save your money and contact L.L. Bean.

How many times do I find myself wearing the down liner, my lip hanging down, because I am disgusted with this particular state of affairs? How much energy do I invest in trying to zip that which will not zip, or being angry because I think it should? And if I really cared, why am I not saving my resources to invest in change? Because I can tell you that Boo has better things to spend her money on than a nice new three-in-one coat from Bean's...like candy bars and Moxie for instance.

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