Archives at Zinester: Starfish: Thorn in My Side, Doris Fandal. Starfish:. Writing

Have you ever used the expression, ???That is a thorn in my side????

I have and usually it was because someone had done something that did not fit my plans or perhaps had irritated me in some way or something had happened that was out of my control.

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Going to the store to purchase something you have seen in a newspaper advertisement and finding that they don??™t have the item because the sale is only meant for the store way up in Timbuktu (a name? our family has frequently used to mean not here and not close enough to visit).? So why did they put the ad in our local paper if it was not meant for our area?? Why did they tempt us to go to the store looking for that particular item?? I think they put those ???teasers??? in our papers because they know that if we go to the store looking for that special item and it is not there, we will probably shop around and buy several more items that we do not really need.? In fact, I own one of the local stores

???Wally World??? because I have spent so much time and money in there.? It??™s a real thorn in my side when I am looking for a sale item in a local store and it is not available here.?

I have been thinking a lot about ???a thorn in my side??? lately because I have a situation where someone is rubbing me the wrong way frequently.? This person seems to know just how to ???push my buttons??? and make me see ???red, white, and blue??™.? In fact, this has happened so much lately that a good friend told me she believes this person is doing the things that are being done out of spite.? How am I going to handle this?? What should I do? I am going to practice patience and understanding and ignore the things that are being done.? I believe that if I manage to have patience, this person will soon know that the actions are not causing me stress.? AND I won??™t tell the individual that they are!?

We all have thorns in our sides at some time in our lives.? If we don??™t take time to think about the reasons and make an attempt to solve the problem, we will find that those thorns are detrimental to our health.? I have decided that for every thorn that touches me, I am going to practice patience to overcome the pain of the thorn??™s stick.? I am going to attempt understanding of the reason for the thorn and I am going to hopefully find that I am a better person for my efforts.? We do have thorns, but with patience and understanding, those thorns can become something beautiful.? Remember that the most beautiful of roses have thorns on their stems.? I am going to try to see roses at the end of all of my thorns.