Good fences make good neighbors unless they drive through it

 Have you ever had one of those days!  I am not talking about a day where your kids get up clean their room, get dressed , brush their teeth without being reminded, look around the house and see what needs done and gets started on it.  No I am talking about the other kind of day the one we don’t just dream about but actually have to live through.  Where there is no portion of your life that is not affected in some adverse and not so fun sort of a way.

We have a lot going on in our live right now…a bit more than what I would call normal.  Several heavy duty items that alone would be enough to drive anyone crazy.  Rhonda and I were talking in the kitchen last night and I commented how with all the extra stress in our lives right now how little things tend to set us off much more than they should.  Let me explain.  You take any normal drinking glass and it is an example of how much stress you can take in your life. At any given time in our life it is probably 25-40% full.  Just normal day to day stuff.  The dog ate someone’s homework, you need milk for cereal, the garden needs weeded, Mom he’s touching me etc, etc, etc.  That leaves a lot of room for stuff to happen.  Someone gets hurt, car breaks down, crazy home teaching family, mother in law comes to visit and you see the glass start to fill.  Then as your glass starts to reach capacity little things like kids asking what are we having for dinner or can I go to my friends house and you have to give me a ride.  Tend to illicit a larger than appropriate response. 

We have been told we will not be tested more than we are able to handle.  Does anyone know how much they can truly handle?  Is there a conversion chart someplace where we can check and see what our upward stress limit would be?  I think about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  Everyone knows how to make one.  If I asked my 6 year old son to make a sandwich he could.  He would leave a path of destruction 6 feet wide across the kitchen as he did it but he would get the sandwich made.  If I were to make it there would be a few crumbs on the counter and a dirty knife and spoon when all was finished.  The funny thing is that it is not the task that has changed.  It is the person’s ability to deal with the task that has changed.  And the not so fun part about that is that growing experiences are what increase out capacity and the real bummer is the most growing experiences are not fun.  They are not fun to be in, to think about, to work on, or until years later and you are completely through with them even fun to talk about.  Right now I really appreciate the Alma who when given great trials (Mosiah 24:15) did not have the burdens taken away.  The Lord strengthened his back that he would be able to bare the burdens with ease. 

The other thought is that we are all different and what one person considers a great trial does not even seem to faze someone else.  Which oddly enough by not acknowledging and understanding the stress someone else is in will cause their glass to spill over, end up in an argument and increase your stress level.  Does it ever end?  Now don’t read to much into this and assume I am ready to take a long walk off a short pier or Rhonda and I are fighting (neither is the case, but a good brisk swim might be fun).  I really just needed to vent and this seemed to be a better way to do it that picking up the phone and yelling at the people I really want to yell at.  I wonder if I could still keep my temple recommend if I made Voodoo dolls of people who bugged me?