I Hate Murphy

Murphy is the guest from hell. It started shortly after I paid off a lot of our debt. I took what money I had and Mark's life insurance and paid off loans, credit cards, and medical expenses. Other than the mortgage, I was almost entirely debt free! I was able to breathe and not worry about that part of my life. I enjoyed jumping on apps and seeing zero balances, I basked in that knowledge. AND THEN.

It started on Saturday. My neighbor came to our door in the early morning to let us know that our cat Yoshi had started a fight with their dog. He lost. She was nearly hysterical with fear for our cat. My son went into their yard and brought Yoshi back to our house. We checked him out and didn't see anything, but he kept breathing really fast and shallow. Several calls later we found a vet who could see him on a weekend. He was treated for one puncture wound and sent home with meds. I went next door, thanked our neighbor, and told her Yoshi was fine. Then on Sunday, I realized that my fridge had decided to stop working. Earlier in the month, our lawn mower decided it wasn't appropriately appreciated and declined to work as well.

Monday came and Yoshi wasn't getting better, actually, he looked worse, so that evening we found an Animal emergency, took him, and had him treated. We were there almost 3 hours when we tried to leave. I say tried because we found out that the battery was dead. So there I sit, holding a cat high on what must have been some awesome drugs, laughing. Because what can you do but laugh? I'm not even going to say out loud, "what else can happen?" out of fear of being shown.

My son went back into the clinic to ask for help and what followed was an experiment in human behavior. He told the room at large that his battery was dead and he had cables, then asked if anyone could give us a jump. No one budged. At 9 pm on a Monday night at an animal hospital, it was strangely busy. There were at least 12 people in that waiting room. Not one person offered to help. Matt lost his temper and said, "Really, No one?". He looked directly at the man closest to him and asked, "can you jump me?". The man stood up, said yes, and followed us out. I was quickly on my way home, exhausted, hungry, and at the beginning of some kind of breakdown because once again, I'm laughing.

Murphy is a son of a bitch, but if you pay attention, he has lessons to teach. Here's what I took from his latest visit. Don't rest on my laurels. Paying off debt is just one side of financial stability, savings is the other. Life never stops testing you, it keeps moving, has great footwork and an awesome left hook, sometimes you just need to laugh. I learned that while people generally are willing to help when in a group they assume someone else will volunteer so they aren't needed. If you asked someone specifically, you have a better chance of receiving help. It reminded me not to assume someone else is going to step in. Even if they are addressing a room, they're talking to me.

My final lesson is this. Murphy waits, he watches you climb the mountain, and just before you reach the peak, he flicks you off. But if you use the advice given when falling off a horse, you'll come through. Assume that you will occasionally fall, and when it happens, don't tense up, go with the fall, check yourself before getting back up, then climb that damn mountain again. Until next time Murphy, we'll call this one a draw, but next time, I swear, I'm suing!

Chris