Perseverance

Over the holidays I was staying with my mom and an interesting thing happened. She has this big drawer attached to her television stand that holds her dvds and VHS tapes. She had piled up too many of the VHS tapes on top of each other, and one of them slid off and fell into the bottom of the drawer so the drawer couldn't close. The way the drawer is designed, you can't get your arm in there to retrieve the tape. A large arm won't fit and a small arm will fit but isn't long enough. My brother in law told her she would have to empty out the entire drawer and then he could take the drawer apart and get the tape. Not the worst thing in the world to have to do, but not fun either.

So I was determined to find another solution. I thought if I could find something that I could slide under the tape and stand it up, then I could reach it. I asked Mom if she had a working flashlight so I could see where the tape was, but her flashlight didn't have batteries in it. So I just had to feel around for it. First I tried this back-scratcher thingy that Mom had. But it was too thin and the claws on it couldn't grab the tape.

So then I thought of a spatula. My mom had one with a wide base, like for omelettes. I felt around for the tape, slid the spatula under it, lifted it up, reached my other hand in, and...success! I got it!!

I probably worked at it for about fifteen minutes. During that time Mom kept urging me to quit. She didn't want me to get frustrated. But I didn't get frustrated. I told her I was fine; I wanted to keep trying. It probably sounds stupid, but I was excited when I got that tape out. Not only because I actually retrieved it, but also because I figured out how. And I did it by myself.

I wasn't raised to be resilient. I was raised to whine when I couldn't do something and it would be done for me. I didn't have to ask and I didn't have to try at anything. Now I am discovering the joy in trying, and succeeding. How good it feels to figure something out for myself, and not having to rely on anyone else.

librarianintx

Steve Clark

Hard to believe, but co-lead guitarist for Def Leppard, Steve Clark, died twenty years ago today. He was a brilliant guitarist and a kind soul, and his legacy lives on in the music he helped to create.

librarianintx