Last night I did not sleep in my own bed in my own home. I did not get a restful night sleep. Instead, I found myself in a small town in Vermont an hour from where I live, trying to get whatever rest I could on a lumpy couch in the living room of a quaint farmhouse. I’m a Justice of the Peace and a couple of my friends asked me to officiate their wedding. Instead of taking the time to drive home in the wee hours of the morning after a night of drinking, only to drive back to officiate the ceremony the next day, I decided to spend the night wherever there was space for me. Which in this case ended up being a couch that looked comfier than it actually felt. A piece of furniture that was apparently bought for its looks, not its comfort.
Eventually I did end up falling asleep, only to be awoken a little after 5:30 in the morning by a horrid intermittent buzzing. At first I thought it was a fly, but quickly realized it was something more sinister. I threw the blanket over my head in hopes that it would just stop or go away. It didn’t. After a few minutes, I got up and made my way to the kitchen where I plucked an empty plastic Solo cup from the counter, a remnant from the night before. Then I waited. When i heard the buzzing again, my senses heightened, honing onto its source. A lone wasp that had apparently gotten in the night before flew frantically around the room bumping into anything and everything it got close to. Eventually it landed. On a normal day I would have just killed it, not thinking twice. But today was different. For some reason I felt the urge to catch it and let it go outside. So that’s what I did.
Not long after my run in with this wasp, the groom came downstairs and asked if I wanted to go for a ride to the nearby country story when they opened to help grab ice for the wedding reception. Since I was already up I agreed. We got to the store at 7:30 and went inside. A pleasant shopkeeper behind the counter informed us that unfortunately, they actually didn’t open until 9, but asked us what we needed. We explained to her what we needed, and instead of turning us away, she let us take the ice we came for and just asked that we come back and pay for them at some point during their open hours. I was struck with a feeling of gratitude and was reminded of a previous conversation I had.
A few days ago I was chatting with a friend of mine about a stressful situation we’ve both been dealing with. I was feeling self conscious about my actions regarding said situation, and as a way to lighten the mood with a bit of sarcasm she told me that I was “merely average”. I told her…
I think everyone is average. It’s what they choose to do that makes them extraordinary. How they handle situations. How they deal with adversity.
It’s my belief that the universe responded to the way I handled the wasp this morning by sending a bit of karma my way, and I truly believe that doing good things, being a good person, never goes unnoticed in one way or another. And for that I am grateful.