Walking on Wednesday ~ The Camel's Straw

I feel like I just took on the weight of the straw that broke the camels back.

I have been carrying much weight. Most times, I don't notice how heavy it really is. But sometimes the weight really brings me down. 

Yesterday, as I was already having a difficult time with the weight, I received news about my car that, shall we say, was not good. 

To make a long story short, I took my car in for a routine oil change, and was presented with a long list, an expensive list, of urgent repairs needed. The kind that means I should not be driving the car unless repaired. No, it's not the mechanic - my car is at the age and mileage that these things start happening. But of course the timing is terrible. 

Already stressed about finances, this happened at the worst possible time. On top of several other things that fall into the 'not regular expense' category. I am struggling with that difficult question - How are we going to get through this?

That crazy straw is heavy, that straw has made me panic, made me question everything I have done to get to this point. Am I going to be that crazy straw in the picture soon? How do I get out of this mess? What do we do to get through this?

Over coffee this morning, I search for inspiration, and hope to get some clarity. Sometimes doing this gives me great ideas and lifts the weight. And then I realize, I am searching through bird toys. 

Yes, bird toys - with straws! You search for 'straws' and see how distracted you get! I actually have birds that would love these toys, and for now, this distraction works. 

I think I can make the birds some new toys! I have straws (really, I have the plastic ones - I am not speaking metaphorically here), and surprisingly I have paper rolls I don't know what to do with! (I got the wrong sized rolls for the credit card machine at the shop, and conveniently the bank makes it nearly impossible to return them!)

How does my mind change focus so easily? Suddenly my mind turns from the heavy weight of stress, to creating and thinking of trying something new. I even found some great straw artwork!

So, how do we get through the tough times? How to we keep going? 

We just do. We keep putting one foot ahead of the other, we keep searching for ideas and inspiration. 

We do not give up. We find a way, because we must. There really is no alternative, really what else can we do? 

We keep going, we keep trying, we keep moving, we keep taking chances. 

Maybe we take that straw off our back, and make it into something we can use.....