On Monday I made my regular live broadcast about the pros and cons of waiting.
I’ll write about it in a few weeks.
In the middle of my broadcast Mrs H called my mobile.
She knows I’ve been doing theses lives, at 12 noon, every week, for the past 4 years, so there must have been something of grave importance she had to tell me.
There was.
We’d missed the bin men.
Not just any bin men. The garden bin men!
The first of the year.
That one where you pay a small fortune for the sticker.
I saw the wagon pass my office window and completely lost my thread.
Instead of discussing the pros and cons of patience I started rambling on about garden bin collections.
Those watching must have been wondering if I was ever going to get to the point.
Same as you, reading this now!
And then a strange thing happened.
People thanked me for the heads up – their garden bin was due.
Others ‘felt my pain’.
After the call I added a fortnightly calendar entry – ‘Garden Bin Day!’
The title of this message is, ‘Is there anything worse?’
My goodness there is. Many, many things, a lot worse.
And it’s worth remembering (not dwelling).
When someone says, ‘It could be worse’ it’s because yes, it could.
I’d love to know your thoughts on this message, bin collections or anything else that’s on your mind after reading.
Please let me know by leaving a comment below. I love reading them.
Be Brilliant!
Michael
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My broth
er is dying. We are waiting for him to go so he is out of pain. He lives down south so our visits have been limited. This weekend could be our last with him. So no, I don’t sweat the small stuff.
You never know when the small things, become the big things that push your mental ill health to the extreme. Although it can sometimes sound a funny story, sometimes it can be the final straw. But pleased you put your work around in your story lol
Loved this Michael thank you – curious though.. was the call from Mrs. H really to let you know “WE” missed the bin men? 😳
Bin collections. Mid-February the bin collection lorry crashed into my car while backing down our road early hours in the dark. Initially I was super-cheesed-off because this happened to us before, in Richmond (London), the driver was quite belligerent about it even though it was totally his fault and getting the council to pay was a _nightmare_.
I live in Ireland now. The driver was super-apologietic, including sending me a (lengthy & quite sweet) apologetic text after. The company came out and checked the damage 2 hours later. My car was assessed for road safety within 4 hours and completely fixed (and washed) within 10 days, all paid for by the (private) collection company.
So, in conclusion, if the bin lorry is going to crash into your car, choose Ireland over London 😀
With me it was recycling collections with the regular bins every two weeks, I’d have to rely on the neighbours putting theirs out early so I could see before I went to work! If I missed it, it was shocking how much extra cardboard and plastic we accumulated in those extra two weeks.
Now I’ve set up the regular calender reminder, the neighbours copy me.
For me, the small stuff matters too.
My favourite
“Cheer up, it could be worse”
So I did, and it was
The best thing Alexa does, without question, is a thing called “Bin Calendar” – Alexa always knows which bin should be going out!
Since I’m prone to forgetting things I use an app called Due on my iPhone to remind me about bins, booking my weekly online shop, when to wash the bedding, and a host of other daft things that I always forget. The great thing about the app is that it doesn’t just remind you once but keeps pinging you at intervals until you click that the item is done.
There is a funny sketch by the comedian Richard Franks all about forgetting the bins – I think you’ll like it! 😉 He’s on Instagram as Richard Franks Comedy and does funny videos pretending to be a mum with a chaotic life 😄 (He did a good one about World Book Day too!)
Health is your wealth
Everything is great if you have your health if you don’t and you fall ill then it’s worse
Me and the wife have both come through it and I honestly mean this, I wish it happened to me 20 years ago as it changed me so much.
Happy better days xx