The View from a Drawbridge

I just finished doing the least glamorous, most disgusting part of my job. I spent an hour getting cigarette butts off the sidewalks and bike lanes of my bridge. So many thoughts go through my head while I do this.

Smoking is a disgusting habit, compounded by the fact that these butt-throwers clearly have no civic pride or sense of personal responsibility. And if you’re health conscious enough to jog or bike, what the heck are you doing smoking in the first place? When it crosses my mind that I’m interacting with things that have been in the mouths of about a hundred total strangers, and surely some portion of them have a communicable disease, I start to dry heave.

When that happens, I have to force myself to put a positive spin on things, so as not to retch all over the sidewalk and then have to clean that up. So what am I learning by doing my least favorite part of the job? What is this bringing into my life?

• It’s good exercise.
• It shows me the type of person/pig that I don’t ever want to be.
• It allows me to be out in the sunshine.
• Inevitably one person walking by every time I do this takes the time to thank me.
• It reminds me that the rest of my job is actually pretty freakin’ fantastic.
• It gives me a stronger sense of who I am, who I want to be, what I’m capable of, what I like and don’t like and why.
• It provides me with an idea for a blog entry.
• It feels sooooo good when I’m done.

I suggest to you that your least favorite things shouldn’t be avoided. Rather, examine them closely. Deal with them with perspective and an open mind for the lessons that they provide. Gifts can come from the most unexpected places. I’m grateful for every gift that comes my way.