No That’s Good

One of my favorite children’s books—a fun read for both parents and kids—is That’s Good, That’s Bad by Margery Cuyler.

The normal response to the things happening to the little boy main character is “Oh, that’s good!” A trip to the zoo. A red balloon. A timely happenstance. But the narrator explains at every point, “No, that’s bad!” Disaster follows on the heels of what seem like smile-worthy provisions.

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The Lifter of My Head

When the delivery guy brought the flowering plant, several delicate blossoms danced above a mound of glossy, wide leaves.

Three days later, the stems of the blossoms drooped like overcooked linguini. I’d forgotten to water the plant.

It’s not often that the florist delivery team stops at my house, so I felt especially bad that in the rush of other concerns, I’d neglected such a simple thing as water.

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Thinning

Some days seem like a tripped fire alarm—loud, unnerving, and adrenaline-spiking. Even when we hit our to-do lists hard, we sink deeper into task-debt, finding three new projects for every one we partially finish.

Slow down? Sure. We can do that.

We’ll just cut out…

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New Every Morning

It had been a long day, and it was only half over with no promise of an easier second half. Like a football team starting the third quarter down by 30 points, no half-time locker room pep talk could make me more optimistic about what the afternoon might offer.

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Overwhelmed

If we were honest when someone greets us with, “Hi. How are you doing?” we wouldn’t answer with the traditional, “Fine. You?” We’d say, “Overwhelmed. Totally. My to-do list has me by the throat and is squeezing the breath out of me.”

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