Fumbles and Foibles

If you are a regular follower of my blog, you may have noticed I missed the weekly publishing deadline. The last few days have been somewhat of a struggle at work and my soul has longed to be with Alexander in Australia (...and his no-good, horrible, very bad day!) But life could be worse. My bet is there were a few football players who have not had the best of weeks either.

I admit I didn't pay much attention to the Super Bowl hype this year. I barely knew who the opposing teams were and saw only five minutes of the game. But in those five minutes, I did see the "interception" that some thought lost the game for the Colts. In the weeks leading up to the game, everyone believed Indianapolis was a sure bet. No one could beat Peyton Manning! And then he throws the ball to the other team. Although, was it really his fault? Of course not. But it reminded me of the Brett Favre interception a few weeks earlier that kept Minnesota out of Super Bowl contention. Even the greatest of players would like to push the rewind button and do it over again.

We are all human. We make mistakes constantly. Some are worth a few million dollars accompanied with Super Bowl fame and even a trip to Disneyland. Others are insignificant but cause us a lot of personal embarrassment.

Several years ago I was asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting. I got there a few minutes early to be reverent. As I was sitting on the stand, I looked down and noticed I had on two different kinds of shoes. They were basically the same style, but definitely from different pairs. I was embarrassed and tried to keep my feet under my chair the best I could and hoped the bishopric wouldn't notice as I stood to speak. Dumb mistake, but not the end of the world. In fact, I laughed about it this week in remembering...you see, I almost did it again.

I was late in getting ready for work. Before leaving the house I ran to the closet in the dark and slipped my feet into what I thought was the only pair of dress shoes on the floor. As I walked away, I felt a slight limp, like one leg was shorter than the other. I turned on the light and sure enough, two different shoes.

Human foibles. They can be quite entertaining at times. I've got to learn that my life isn't over if I trip over the door mat going into church and lay splat on the floor. (No, that hasn't happened...but now that I write it, it will!) Or another example. Last Sunday night we had our last choir practice for Stake Conference. I was just about to sing a really good high note, but hesitated a nano second. (The choir angels must have had their hand over my mouth). It's a good thing I waited because no one else sang. Dead silence. I would have been the only one singing and that would have been the end of my singing career.

We need to give each other some slack. If the paperboy misses the porch, the man pulls out in front of you on Riverdale Road, the Sacrament prayer needs to be repeated, the Bishop rambles on and on, the Utah Jazz have an off night, the checker rings up your Fruit Loops twice...do I get upset? Well, I do. But I am working on being much more tolerant with others and myself. And that's maybe the hardest, to allow ourselves a fumble once in awhile.

It would be a pretty dull world if we were all perfect. (Now don't get me wrong. That is our ultimate goal.) But in the daily routine of oopses, please forgive me if I call you Cindy instead of Ethel, or if I snore during your lecture presentation...or if I accidentally forget to release the volume pedal for the sacrament hymn. It's all in being human.