The Best Things In Life

Today I am writing a bit earlier than usual.  I have been sick for the last five days and I decided it was time to take a sick day and get better.  I make mistakes when I am sick and I am not very productive so really I am helping everyone around me by laying on my couch, drinking liquids and watching movies. 

Yes I own a pillow pet, his name is Gatsby.

Other than being sick and somewhat successfully starting off a new school year (there is lots of room for improvement here), I bought a new house last week!  Ya herd me.  I said I bought a house.  OK well it is a condo, but dang it I am a homeowner.  These words bring fear and trembling and tons of excitment.  Because I had nothing better to do today.  I drove over to mi casa and snapped a few photos of the outside.  I felt like a creeper and did not want to have the neighbors call neighborhood watch, so I only got one good one.  Feast your eyes on this beauty! 

I really like this place for a few reasons. 1. It is MINE!  As an only child this is huge!  2. It has a pool.  You have no idea how happy I am about this.  I pretty much only wanted a pool and I guess a room to sleep in, but the pool was of prime importance. 3. It is in what I call the trifecta of safety.  A church, hospital, and school are all within a block of my place.  In other words i can sleep soundly knowing none of my neighbors are registered sex offenders. 
I am so surprised that I actually have a home now.  I have been looking for like a month and I had lost hope that I would find something good in my price range.  I found the perfect place and would have gotten it if another couple hadn't offered to pay in all cash.  WHO DOES THAT?  
After my tragic defeat I randomly decided to look at this place and was not really that interested, probably because I wanted the other place still.  I thought about putting in an offer, but decided to wait a week.   The owners of this condo though really wanted to sell to me.  About 5 text messages and 3 days later I was signing papers to go into escrow.  I barely had to debate, negotiate, or fret about it.  It just worked out. 
I realized that some of the best things in my life come when I relinquish control of all the details and let things happen.  The job I have did not require a lot of work or stress, I went to a few interviews, even showed up a day early for one, and a few days later i had a job.  Buying my car was easy.  I test drove a few found one I could afford that was safe, signed a few papers and drove off the lot.  Going on a missions trip where I didn't know anyone was easy.  I gave my money and got on a plane and had a great two weeks helping people in Costa Rica. 
When I get out of my own way and let the chips fall where they may I am usually astounded at how well it worked out.  When I try to control, over analyze, and bargain I am usually left less satisfied or hurt.  As a person I grow more in the difficulties or challenges of life, but I rarely get the peace I feel when I sit back and let things be. 
I need to remember this truth for myself as I am fighting a battle at work that I should probably let go of.  I need to do my work and trust at the end of the day it is enough.  The perfectionist in me needs to let go a little (or a lot), do my work, and remember that the best things in life happen when you least expect it.