pee pads

i noticed stella, our five month old mini dachshund, had peed on tess's comforter...the one that i had just put on the bed...i lifted it off to wash it and noticed it had traveled down to the sheet, so i lifted that off...then i noticed it had gone down to the fitted sheet...so i lifted that off, and of course it was down to the mattress pad...it didn't go any further...okay, really, i stopped checking and just sprayed some febreeze on the mattress...

anyway, it just struck me that my life is made up of a series of peed on comforters...i think about all the times that i've dealt with a problem only to notice it kept going further and further down into something else and how often i've only wanted to deal with that first, superficial layer.  it's only when i continue to peel off each layer that i am able to unearth something new...not that each layer always holds some key message or great masterpiece, it's usually just some more pee...but, i do know that until i get to the bottom of the "pee pit" as it were, can i make any real change in my life.  sometimes i am lucky and can give the problem a good squirt of life's 'febreeze' and call it a day, but more often than not, i have to scrub and scrub and scrub until it's raw and uncomfortable.  

i'd love to say that every problem gets resolved and everything comes out clean and shiny and new again...but, that's not the reality of life.  life is messy.  life is dirty.  life is hard.  life is raw.  but i am grateful for all those times i've stuck it out and scrubbed until my arms ached and my eyes crossed, because it's only then that i've been able to really see my problems for what they are...a wonderful pile of blankets and quilts and pieces of fabric that are woven with memories and laughter and tears and lessons...they each hold the promise of a tomorrow and the sweetness of a past.  each thread represents a lesson that i've learned, a problem that's been solved, and a memory that's been made.  sure, some are a little more rough for wear and some even look downright shabby, but those are the ones that are the softest because those are the ones that have been handled the most...