When you have horses, you inevitably have flies. For the past two weeks, I’ve been battling with two lingering pests that will.not.die.

Now, that might sound really cruel, but they are in my house and landing all over the place. Like gerbils, two flies will quickly equal two hundred. So I have been on the warpath to rid my house of these pesky insects.

It’s not easy.

To begin with, I don’t have a flyswatter. So I use towels, rolled up magazines, even my hand. I can spend an hour battling these two fellas. But I have learned that they are complete ninjas and like to fight back. When I go for one fly, the other one will daringly land on my arm (which tickles in an annoying sort of way). And when I finally get one, a new companion seems to arrive out of nowhere!

Isn’t that like life?

Whenever one bad thing disappears, another comes in its place…or so it seems.

Just yesterday, I said to my mother that the time is coming for me to have a break of yucky things of the devil. While I am happy to strengthen my back by carrying burdens for others—the more I have, hopefully the less YOU have…at least statistically, it would seem that way—my shoulders are beginning to hurt.

For the last eighteen or so years, it has been one thing or another thrown at me. There were times when I succumbed to wanting to throw in the towel (similar to giving up on the stupid flies) while other times I pulled myself up by the bootstraps and smiled my way through it.

But it isn’t always easy.

Of course, I should remember all of the good things: my husband and children, my parents, my cyber-sisters and my friends. I have been blessed with a lot of good in my life and need to remind myself that life has a balance. It cannot be all good…otherwise, we’d never really appreciate it, would we?

I suppose I am a little frustrated right now. I still have one last fly who will not leave my kitchen. It’s definitely symbolic for the one thing that is lingering in my life that I cannot seem to eradicate…a problem in my household that we all want to fix but the health care system is poor equipped to assist us.

One of these days, I will swat that fly and no longer have to wield my rolled up magazine as I prowl through my kitchen. Perhaps on that same day, there will be inner peace for my entire small family. With God on my side, I have faith that will happen.

In the meantime, I will continue battling on both fronts with only one outcome acceptable in my mind: defeating the bad things so happiness, health, and harmony reigns once again for my household!

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