I feel your pain, Charles

When Pope John Paul II died last year, his funeral was scheduled on the day that Prince Charles and his intended, Camilla, planned to be married. Charles’ woeful comment, when he learned this, was, “Why me?” That’s not a phrase that takes up space in my thinking, but yesterday I voiced a variation of it: “of course this would happen to me!”

A week before I made the decision to switch to a different storefront software for my web site from the one I was then using. I set the wheels in motion, and after a few days discovered that something was missing from what I thought I was purchasing. Turned out to be a communication snafu. I sought to correct the matter. Encountered a problem. A day later, all was resolved, and I was on my way. But then I encountered technical problems. Called to report the matter. Told it was taken care of. It happened again. And again. And again. The last time I called (yesterday afternoon) I learned that although the problem isn’t new to the system, the fact that it is continuing to repeat with a customer has not been encountered before. Lucky me. Fortunately, I have been given a “back door” way to get into the site so that I can continue working while the tech team tries to resolve this problem once and for all.

After months of delays, dissatisfaction, the constant challenge to my non-technical way of thinking, and yes, the tears, I was wondering if it wasn’t all a sign to abandon ship. I don’t consider that an option. Sometimes things don’t happen because they’re supposed to, but because they simply happen. Like the saying says…

And so I persevere—a step at a time, a day at a time, a skill at a time. At some point all of this accumulated movement will mean crossing the finish line, or at least the first of who-knows-how-many. One thing I’ve discovered—it’s hard to train when you don’t know what the ultimate distance will be. But then, that’s life.