life lesson | 365daysofmarriage

::sings:: ….plug it in, plug it in!!!!!!

Ahem. So! I’ve been doing a lot more driving than I did in the past, so I put a bunch of books on tape and sermons onto my iPod. The other day, I was having trouble hearing one of the sermons. Defeated, I turned on the radio. *sigh* I considered buying a battery operated speaker set up.

I was setting off on a long drive and I thought, well, I can try and listen again…

“What’s this? Not all the way plugged in?!”

I noticed that the cord I used wasn’t fully plugged into my iPod. I plugged it all the way in, and viola! Sermons and books loud and clear!

I thought it was a great life lesson. Think about how many times you’ve complained/struggled/been annoyed with a situation and in the end, it was such an easy fix. If you just stopped and calmly assessed the situation. Sometimes the computer isn’t plugged in. Sometimes the fuse is blown.

Take the time today to take a step back and look at your struggle, you might find that you haven’t plugged it in.

In normal Jen and Bret fashion, we waited until the day before we left to pack our bags for our trip. While we were packing, we had a crazy thought – only take two carryon bags. So we took everything out of our bags and looked at what we had…and we realized we could do it. We’re here for about ten days and brought enough for that time. Here’s what I learned about myself and life in the process.

– When you’re forced to pick only what you absolutely need, the unimportant becomes obviously apparent.
– If you think something is impossible, if you HAVE to attempt it, you might find that it is possible.
– When everything is in your possession, you don’t have to wait for others.
– When you do something you’ve never done before, it’s a really satisfying feeling to actually do it.

I have to admit, I was a little nervous about going through security with shampoo and all that jazz (because I would always check it in the past), but it was a great feeling knowing that I could. We were through security in about 15 minutes….on Christmas Eve no less! It was also great when we got to California, we didn’t have to wait for our bags, we could walk right out the door and meet Bret’s parents.

So, lesson learned? It is possible to travel across the country for ten days with only the clothes and backpack on your back. 🙂

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