September 19: Feeling Like a Failure, Meetings, Amen

Last night, I watched the Emmy Awards, hosted by Jane Lynch.  Frankly, I didn't think the show was all that good.  The comedy bits weren't that funny, and Lynch seemed a little forced in her attempt to be Billy Crystal (or, at the very least, David Letterman).  As the night wore on, I thought about how difficult it must be to lose an award on national television.  It's one thing if you know you don't stand a snowball's chance in Tahiti when you walk down the red carpet, but showing up with even a glimmer of hope would be agonizing.  And then you have to sit there for three hours after your failure, applauding for other people.  That pretty much defines the word "suck."

It's easy to feel like a failure in the world today.  The economy is in the toilet.  Unemployment is out-of-control.  House sales are down.  Steve Jobs quit Apple.  And, at the moment, in my household, we are down to one income.  Mine.  I work two jobs, and I know I'm really lucky to have those two jobs.  However, even with my jobs, we are having a difficult time paying bills.  Each time I get a paycheck, it's spent the next day.  The little nest egg my wife and I had built up in our bank account is getting littler by the second.

I don't want you to feel sorry for me.  I know I'm a really lucky guy.  It's a matter of me appreciating what I have instead of what I want.  I may have to get up at 4:15 every morning.  I may have to work until 5 p.m.  I may have to attend tedious church meetings tonight.  I may only have nine followers on my blog.  I may have to eat hamburger helper for dinner tonight.  All those things aren't punishments.  They're blessings, and I give thinks for them.  All my big, fat, hairy, annoying, exhausting blessings.

Can Saint Marty get an "Amen"?

Even Jane Lynch can fail.