January 7, 2011 - patterns

This is just part of a piece of electrical equipment (maybe a heat sink). I saw it in passing and liked the pattern.

A lot of my life is spent looking for patterns. In my work, I look for patterns of behavior to identify problems with the systems we develop. In the rest of my life, I look for patterns, too. Today I was thinking about the times I've said yes to various challenges presented to me - often situations where I see no alternative but to deal with the challenge, where others see that "no" is an option. I've accepted my second major job change in less than six months now - that's one kind of challenge. The more important ones, to me, are the difficult personal situations such as dealing with Mom's illness, or planning my father-in-law's homecoming when we had 24 hours to get everything ready for a bedridden person. Sometimes, particularly in the workplace, I wonder if I am too willing to say yes where I am told I'm needed; at home, I feel good about 'showing up' in these difficult situations - even if 'showing up' is often all I'm capable of. I know God puts me in these situations for a reason! For today, I'm content to recognize that I have said yes many times when it was important - all the times I've said no can wait.