One Saturday afternoon in late autumn it was a really blustery day. Actually blustery is a bit of an understatement; it was really, really windy, bordering on a hurrigale. I had numerous things to do that afternoon, paint the bathroom, hang out the bed linen to dry and I wanted to go to the local greengrocers shop.
Painting the bathroom was the most straightforward of those tasks; I’m not particularly good at decorating but I enjoy the mindlessness of it, which is probably why I always end up wearing so much paint in the process. I don’t think there are many who can claim to be successful in getting paint on the back of their thighs. (I wear shorts) I’m sure a skilled painter would be quick to retort that it’s not supposed to be mindless at all.
You would think hanging the bed linen on the whirligig washing line would be straightforward to wouldn’t you really? How hard can that be? It was exceptionally windy and as I battled with the duvet cover to get it onto the line I heard that voice in my head that offers me pearls of wisdom and guidance from time to time, gently tell me that I really didn’t want to do that, it was far too windy and it was going to be a wasted effort. You know, sometimes I like the voice and I pay attention to it, but sometimes I just think they’re having me on and that I know better. So I ignored it, won the battle with the duvet cover and returned indoors to carry on painting.
All the while my mind was also on the fact that I need to go to the greengrocers, but again that voice was there only this time it’s telling me that there was no point, the shop was shut. Grrr!
I’m busy brandishing my paint brush when I heard a very loud and puzzling crashing sound from the garden. As the bathroom overlooked garden I opened the window to ascertain the source of the noise. I’m greeted by the sight of my washing line bent over at a 45° angle, its complete descent downwards halted by the presence of the conifer trees. The duvet cover, however, hadn’t been so lucky and was trailing in the muddy grass and would need to be rewashed; the pole of the whirligig was also bent beyond repair, the force of the wind battering my duvet cover had just been too much. I can sense the Angels standing over my shoulder shaking their heads with that ‘told you so’ expression on their faces.
I decided to put the painting on hold after having been interrupted and decided that I would pay my visit to the greengrocers shop. I got my car keys and my purse and got into the car and tried to start it; normally it started first time. Not that day! And there again was the voice telling me I really don’t need the car right now anyway because the greengrocers really were shut. Again I don’t want to listen to or trust it so I persevere, finally get the car started and I’m able to make my journey.
Guess what? Yes, the shop was shut and that time I did hear a resounding ‘We told you so’ from them.
I suppose sometimes there a perversity about going against their advice because we want to see if they really are right. It’s a little like touching the plate to see if it really is hot even though we’ve just been told it is. It can be difficult to trust that guidance and sometimes we just need proof that what the Angels are telling us really is genuine. They probably know we’ll do that anyway and that’s why they choose the small stuff to allow us to test them so that when something big comes along and they warn us we’ll pay attention because our experience with them has proved that they do know what they are talking about.
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