Have you ever attempted anything, impulsively, bravely, foolishly? And got away successfully ! You just thought that you could do it, even though it seemed impossible, your 'Think sanely' judgement said, "NO, NO !".
But somewhere a little voice said "You can, you can", and so you started despite all odds.
The attempt began with a flourish, but midway you just lost all hope of success..... There you were stuck right in the middle of nowhere..... Panic! Despair! "Oh God! please help!"
You couldn't bear to look like a fool at this stage. So you took stock, found new ways to solve the problem, and then you struck gold! As if the clouds had opened up to provide you with a solution. You got away. That day your belief in God was again renewed. You remembered all your childhood sayings, 'God helps those who help themselves!', 'Fortune favors the brave!'.
For me, it happened on a Sunday!
Situation:
Problem 1:
The room with the T.V has a very small bed everybody keeps falling off. The bright spot......the other room has a huge bed.
Solution:
Shift beds (Shifting T.V is not an option.)
Problem 2
Who? How? When? Waste precious weekends on shifting beds? So we carried on falling from the small bed.
That Sunday, by chance my husband had to go to the office . Kids too got up early and planted themselves in front of the hall T.V. I was free....and that's when the idea stuck me. I decided to shift the beds all by myself. "I'll surprise him " I thought. My seven year old son was very supportive.
"You can do it mama!", he said and went back to his cartoons.
I decided to tackle both beds together. I removed the sheets, mattresses, and emptied the boxes. This was easy. Now was the tough part. I got the tools out and started dismantling the smaller bed, not very tough!, half way I went over to the bigger bed. Okay Great !, Ha! Ha! Can't stop me now... shifting the heavy parts would be a little tough but nothing I couldn't manage.
I reached the point where removing the back rest would finally dislodge the two halves of the bed, stuck!, I tried hard again, still stuck....cursed it, tried again, I called out to my son in panic.
We both tried, tough luck! "Tsk, tsk, what now mama" said my son and went back to his T.V.
Half an hour passed, anybody who rung my bell during that time...... the garbage collector, car washer, newspaperman, all tried their hands on it, but the bed just wouldn't budge. That's when I really panicked, a real surprise waited my husband now.
I got out of my house, somebody, somewhere would know how to do it. It was Sunday morning, hardly anybody was around. I met a few gardeners, they said they could come and help me in their lunch break.
Oh! no!
Just then I saw a man starting his scooter, I asked him out of sheer desperation. He was a plumber and he happened to know a carpenter, who was working just a few blocks away.
What luck!
They were also ready to help. Before I could even thank my stars, they came upstairs, oiled the jammed bed, undid it, shifted the heavy boxes and put them together in their right places.They didn't want anything for the help, "Such a small job madam". But I had to give something to these angels from heaven.
In the evening my husband just could not believe his eyes. Actually he was relieved that he didn't have to do it.
That night when I thought about the whole thing I realised:
1. Having no 'fall back plan' sometimes, is great for you. It means that you have little time to reflect, think, get scared and give up. Off course you have to have some master plan, you can't jump off the cliff without a rope and expect God to save you. (I had seen the beds being dismantled before, so I thought I could do it.).
2.When you do get stuck, you make extra efforts to get back on track, than you normally would. Its a matter of challenge now.
3. There is lots of help available, once you are really ready to take it.
4. Its the small miracles everyday that make you realise how wonderful life is .
5.You can't help the smug happy feeling afterwards.(Even though they were just two silly beds.)
