New year; 2012 just started a few days back. 1st of January was spent by us in a very good way. All of us woke up a little later than the usual in the morning. We all started the day in a relaxed mode. I had finished all critical office work on 31st to ensure that nothing from work comes in to jeopardize the day. All we wanted (though none of us had said it out loud) was to go through the day very slowly, like savoring every moment of the 1st day of the New Year. Late at night while we were retiring to bed; I looked at my wife and she said; “so the 1st day of the new year was as hoped. Right?” and I couldn’t disagree even a bit.
Nothing big, just a simple slow day; warm showers, nice breakfast, lunch at a laid back restaurant followed by a trip to the Temple thanking God for a nice last year and praying for an even better New Year. Returned home after a small drive. Then we played with the two little princes of our kingdom, our sons. Had some nice home cooked dinner and watched some comedy shows on television, laughed heartily before getting to bed. Thank God for a beautiful life and all the comforts; that was the only thought when I closed my eyes to sleep.
Late at night I felt colder than usual and didn’t know what was happening. Woke up in the morning and realized that it was so far the coldest night of the season with mercury dipping a few degrees below freezing and in that coldest night of the season; the heating system had decided to give away.
WHAT? NO!!!! How can such a perfect start be ruined in less than 24 hours, it never happened in the past, nothing of this sort actually. The house had been almost problem-free ever since we moved in almost 3 years ago.
It’s all right ….. She moves in mysterious ways… (somehow these lines from the song play themselves in my mind in such situations always) She sure does. And that’s the beauty of life.
Never take things for granted, a side of my mind was trying to tell me. This had not been the perfect start of the year that we thought it to be. The same side continued. Things can get better for a while but then it will be same old, some challenge to upset you. Don’t you think it is a small problem; nothing to fret about? The other side tried to argue. Well you enjoyed the small happiness yesterday so why ignoring this problem as a small one; you always have a knack for finding vastness in the little facts of daily life; isn’t this right? The sorry side of the mind continued. And also don’t forget; this heater could have given away any time of the year, but the day it picked is the 1st day of what is predicted to be the coldest week of the season. And that was very true.
Finally I dragged the tool bag with me; without even taking a shower or breakfast; to the attic where the furnace for the upper level is placed and started opening the furnace to see what might have gone wrong. It took almost 3 hours in the frigid attic to somewhat understand what was working in the whole system. Still I was far from finding the problem and even farther from fixing it. My whole body getting numb from the cold temperature and also due to lack of getting even a single morsel in my stomach since dinner last night and it was already almost 1 PM. So I climbed down from the attic; sad and upset. The best start of the year had turned in to a bad 2nd day, rather very bad 2nd day.
Now think of me sad, upset, hungry and very cold coming down from the attic where the sudden fall of temperature had the worst effect. The moment I stepped in to the bed room that had felt way too cold at the beginning of the day; suddenly appeared much warmer. No the room was not warmer than it had been 3 hours ago when I went to attic; it was rather a few degrees colder; but I felt it much warmer as the attic must have been around 10 degrees lower than the rooms below. That was a good enough chance for the other side of the mind to show its face again. The Sunshine seeker side, I mean. And honestly I do have a Sunshine Seeker hidden in me; mostly hidden way down there in some lower basement under a million truck load of every day challenges, but just like Sunshine; it at times shows up even from way below. And that was one of those rare moments; so the Sunshine seeker side started saying. You see it is just a perception; things are good and can be better or worse or how you want them to be.
Then one after the other the positives of the moment started surfacing on its own. Our house has two separate heating and cooling units so in spite of the failure; we had one big area of the house that will be kept warm by the other unit and that was a big positive. And also we had a small space heater; small but big enough to keep our middle size bedroom warm in the night. And I can easily buy a few more similar heaters to help us till the furnace is fixed. So I went after a quick meal and bought another space heater. The problem was not solved completely but we had a workaround and a very good workaround.
After I came back from the store; I started again with the Furnace unit and by a few rounds of elimination steps; realized that there was a bad igniter causing the problem. So one after the other the solutions were surfacing by themselves. When one has positive thoughts the whole life turns positive.
Now the easier part started; finding the igniter and after a few websites; we found the right model. Order placed and everything done. Well here comes another surprise; one of my friends at work found out about my predicament and that I have ordered a part online for a quick delivery and also that it would cost me more for the shipping charges than the part itself. He went in and ordered the same thing for me using his privileged status with the seller and the shipping cost was reduced to less than 10% of the original. And the happiness of living among such caring friends was really invaluable. After a wait of two days later the igniter was delivered to our house today. Now opened the Furnace and replaced the Igniter and the Heating system came to life. Problem solved. And not only that it was so good have this problem to start with.
It was good because I realized that how fortunate we all are to have warm homes and a family to love and care for. I realized that how a little bit of sunshine can remove the darkness from the even most remote corners of the mind. I realized that how easy it was to fix the problem when I started thinking in the right direction. I realized how our mind controls the environment around us. I realized how small we are when we think small and how our mind can blow up the smallest things into huge problems. I realized that how good it was to have friends who help when you need and who care even for the small things and thoroughly participate with you to surmount your challenges.
And I realized that tomorrow is going to be much warmer than last few days, now that the heater is fixed I didn’t mind bit more or cold weather; but the cold is receding at least for next couple of days. Right when the heater is fixed. So I realized God is winking and smiling because this had been a small practical joke but really a good one. So I smile back and wink and look around. I have so many things to be grateful for and so many things that I take for granted. I hope as long as I can understand his lessons and his jokes I will have these privileges. So now that it is late at night; soon I will go to my bed, kiss my two little Princes, say good night to my loving wife and then sleep in the warm room. Some experiences are worth relishing and some things worth taking for Granted.
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