Positive Perspectives and Practicing What You Preach

The final bump... Ahh, the irony!

Jeff and I were at my place, talking about perspectives, and were getting all wrapped up in the incredible effect people's attitudes have on how they perceive and enjoy life.  How, with the right frame of mind, it is far easier to be a happy, compassionate, and healthy person.

I was just telling him about how despite all the little bumps of moving into my new school and apartment, I was still quite happy.  I acknowledged, however, that maybe (just maybe) my attitude could have used a little readjustment at times.  ;) I told him I was certain that the next time something popped up, I could do an even better job of staying positive and making the best of it!

Well, within 20 minutes of this conversation, my water refused to get hot again.  Yep.  Again.  My hot water was nowhere to be found.  Given that I needed to freshen up and take a shower before meeting with friends, this was not good.  Time to practice what I'd preached... except a good majority of my idealism flew out the window in frustration.  (To give myself at least a little credit, I did laugh a bit at the situation given the ridiculous irony and timing of it all.)

Trying to help out, Jeff filled the teapot with tap water and said he'd boil some up while I worked on getting a hold of my co-teacher.  As it turns out, however, my stove was out of order, too.  The water sat ice cold in the teapot.

It didn't take us long to discover that the gas had been completely shut off from my apartment.  To top it all off, my co-teacher informed me that the apartment office wasn't available on the weekends... and it was currently Saturday.  This meant that the problem would have to wait until Monday to get fixed.  

Although it was frustrating, it was helpful that we had just been talking about the importance and benefits of staying positive.  After taking a few breaths and reminding myself that it wasn't the end of the world, I remembered I had an electric kettle stored away, and we were able to boil enough water for a bird bath.

I'm not one to sit around, though.  I'm a doer and a fixer, and I wasn't content to leave things as they were.  I took the problem into my own hands on Sunday afternoon and tried one last ditch effort to get the help I needed.  Down the elevator to the security guard, I went!

Luckily, I was able to work my Konglish/sign language skills effectively enough that the guard understood my problem.  The helpful call to my recruiter (aka translator in times of need) probably didn't hurt, either.  ;)

Being kind to the doorman paid off - he magically had the problem fixed within the hour!

Thank goodness!

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Now that life is calming down a tad, and I'm settling into my daily routine, it's easier to step back and keep my perspective in check.  Also, I am happy to announce that all of these bumps have been addressed, and most have been fixed. Whether it was with a hot glue gun (in the case of the desk and my electrical outlet covers) or with three separate visits from the repairman (in the cases of my washing machine and internet woes), progress has been made!