Acclaimed French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote, “Small minds are concerned with the extraordinary, great minds with the ordinary.” That claim certainly is easy for a former child prodigy to utter! Not everyone has time to dedicate to advancing the field of math and science. If you are anything like me, you are vastly more concerned with more ordinary things such as paying the bills, school scheduling, and heating your house (those that are blessed to live in a place with cold winters). Speaking of warming up your permanent whereabouts, I had the opportunity to learn interesting tidbits from my local HVAC specialist during a routine furnace servicing job.

Handing out several pamphlets on the benefits of a new humidifier or air ventilation system prompted me to think about how I have previously made home upkeep seem more difficult than it need be. Along with those informational packets, the HVAC specialist advise me of simple fixes to prevent draining condensation from corroding the bottom of my washer. Author Marianne Williamson declared, “Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.”

Today, I experienced the joy of recognizing that my family is blessed with the ability to upkeep our furnace which brings warmth into the home. I am also glad to have the chance to acquire insight for simple actions for me to take to enhance our HVAC situation. I will leave with the great words of Henry Ford, ““Life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us bigger, even though sometimes it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and grieves which we endure help us in our marching onward.”