"Would you rather be right, or happy?"

Yesterday was absolutely beautiful weather - short sleeves! Perfect for gardening, but I had to go to town. I had planned on getting in the garden today to catch up on transplanting my blueberries and daffodils. But, no.... Rain. I absolutely must go clean the stall, and let my chickens out.

But I digress, somewhat. I needed a door for my new chickenhouse, so I picked out a cheap door from Habitat Restore. One that I had pulled out and left sticking out, but had forgotten to buy. So the next day I went back and picked it up. Got it home. Cut it to fit, put on the hinges and went to attach it to the chicken house. But, No... It was too narrow! I had made an assumption that was WRONG! Always check the sizes of things you buy. Duh. So, I went back again and got the right size, did all the trimming and attached the hinges, got it hung, but, then I realized that I had squared the opening, but not the vertical so I have an annoying gap at the top. OH, WELL! It keeps the chickens in and the varmints out. Done.

I will take this opportunity to expound on how we deal with setbacks. We always have a choice. Either we take it in stride and move on, or we rebel against the wind. No amount of yelling, hitting things or swearing overcomes the problem. Only by observing your mistakes and adjusting your expectations for the future can you progress. It is a lesson not everyone learns. One of my first counselors posited this question to me:

That has stuck with me. Dwelling on what is wrong with a situation doesn't change it. Observing what is wrong and thinking about how you can improve it is much more empowering. So, even though I made a lot of building mistakes creating my chicken house, I AM PROUD of the fact that I did it all myself, using up building materials I already had for the most part, and that I have provided for and protected my little brood of chickens. I am HAPPY even though I didn't do it RIGHT.