P is for Problems (First-World Kind)

My roommate Bianca has a problem. She REALLY likes things that smell good, particularly candles. This Thanksgiving/Christmas season has been hard on her candle budget. At one point, I asked her how many she had purchased over the last two weeks....the answer was four. Her problem is not improved by the fact that I also really like things that smell good. I've also purchased four candles in the last month and a half. The problem is so bad that we sometimes go into each other's rooms to smell the other person's candles. We just can't seem to stop buying things that smell nice.

I have other problems as well. For instance, I can't say no to popcorn. Literally. The International Programs office at my work has a popcorn maker and they occasionally make a batch for people in the lobby. If I walk into the building and smell popcorn, I immediately go to the IP office to get popcorn. It doesn't matter if I'm hungry or not, I will eat the popcorn. Then there's last week. My roommate Carey took Bianca and I to see a movie as a Christmas gift. It also happened to be the opening night for Rogue One, so the lines were ridiculous. Because of those long lines, I didn't get my usual dose of movie popcorn. I experienced actual disappointment.

Other problems include my need to clean things regularly, my wish that I could always have a teaching schedule that fits my preferred teaching times, my compulsion to organize things...I could go on and on describing my other addictions, desires, and "problems". 

This makes me wonder how often I really do go "on and on" talking about problems in my life that are really and truly insignificant inconveniences. How much of my energy is spent pondering the little things in my life that at the end of the day don't matter? I ask myself these questions in light of some the really terrible problems going on in our world today. Why do I spend so much time worrying about cleaning my bathroom when Aleppo is literally on fire? As a human, it's hard for me to pull out of my self-centric universe to see and spend energy caring about real problems. BUT! It's definitely worth the effort. In honor of this Christmas season, I hope that I can spend a little less time worrying about my own "problems".