squeezed

Life squeezed me this week.

You find out what's inside something if you squeeze it hard enough. Squeeze and orange and you get orange juice. Squeeze a lemon and you get lemon juice. When life squeezes us, metaphorically that is, we find out who we are, deep, deep down. It turns out that I've got some bad juices in me.

This week, my A/C stopped working, there were numerous project deadlines and scheduling issues, a family that is special to me broke up, and my task list just seemed more daunting than usual. On Monday morning, my computer wouldn't print. I think that's when I snapped. I think I almost cried, which is a big deal since the last time I cried was 10 years ago.

I realize that my list of problems seems pretty silly to some. There's nobody shooting at me and I still have all my limbs. My wife put her hand through our kitchen window. She has a good reason to be stressed, not me.

I just wanted to share my experience of getting squeezed this week. It comes out of nowhere sometimes. Last week I was happy-go-lucky. This week I am about to take a baseball bat to a photocopier. Ain't that a kick in the head?

Fortunately, God is the opposite of my problems. He never causes trouble, and he's always suffering right there with me. No matter how much life squeezes me, God will never let me be totally squished.

Oh, and based on an experience from my childhood, if you squeeze a squirrel, you get anger and teeth.