Friday, July 17, 2009

OCD

Exhaustion. That’s my excuse and I guess I’ll stick with it. I frequently suffer from insomnia and this past month I feel as though I have suffered from this malady with increasing frequency. In addition to lack of sleep, things at work have been very busy and stressful. The economy sure has a lot of people down these days and WIC is a tremendous blessing in the pocketbook for those who qualify. This past Wednesday was a particularly stressful day that ended with a sick baby vomiting on me, and his very overwhelmed, homeless mother crying in my arms. I arrived home later than usual, but still had to take on a huge baking task. My daughter Mary and I have the annual chore of baking kolaches for our upcoming family reunion, and this was the night we had scheduled to bake the treats, all 12 dozen of them. We were rolling dough and filling pastries until 10:30 at night. I should have gone straight to bed after that, but I didn’t. Instead I thought I’d just take a few minutes to look over the some of my favorite blogs.

God seems to be drawing me to Carmelite blogs with more and more frequency. Perhaps He was doing this because I needed a lesson in humility. Whether that was His intention or not, humility is what I got! I found a beautiful new blog written by a cloistered Carmelite nun. You can find the blog link in my list (lounge de sa gloire). The prayers and pictures are lovely! I just had to leave a comment. Unfortunately, I was not thinking clearly and I made an absolute fool of myself! Her bio described her as an ocd sister. In a world of abbreviations, the first thing those initials brought to my mind was “obsessive, compulsive disorder” to which I can completely relate. So, I told the sweet sister, “don’t feel bad about being ocd, I am too! As long as we are obsessed with Jesus and compulsive about prayer, its all good, isn’t it?” Then I went to bed.

The next morning, the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, I was driving to work and thinking about the feast day and all of the lovely Carmelites I had been coming to know when my mistake hit me like a ton of bricks. OCD…Order of Carmelites, Discalced! I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, so for the entire day, I vacillated between both! I couldn’t believe my ignorance! Of course this happened at a time when I was thinking pretty highly of myself, so getting knocked down a few notches was really what I needed.

That night it was back to the blogs to offer a humble apology. How do you show a red face with your words? Of course, the dear ocd sister forgave me and actually had a good laugh about it herself. And the lesson I learned? When you are tired, do not leave comments on blogs. When you are tired, do what comes naturally; go to bed! And now, good night from an OCD (obsessive compulsive) mom who may someday become a much better kind of OCD (Order of Carmelites, Discalced) Secular mom! Now I need a nap!

9 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness! That is the funniest thing! And far from ignorant - you were just plain tired! I'm glad you got some much needed rest and gave me a chuckle too!

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  2. Oh Anne...love this post! I really had to laugh to myself...I just love it. My very best friend is an OCDS too and we always kind of joke that we are both OCD and OCDS!

    Continue to pray if God is leading you closer to the Carmelites. You definitely have a *contemplative* soul!

    I need a nap too. Let's pray for each other that we may catch up on much needed sleep.

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  3. This was a great post, Anne! Thanks for sharing your obviously overtired mistake-I probably would have done the same thing!

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  4. Dear Anne,

    Once again, you crack me up! I wish I could tell you some of the "mistakes" we make around here, but charity and prudence demand I keep my fingers tight. :) Take it as an opportunity from God to make someone (me) laugh - A LOT. And for that I thank you. Continue to seek God in everyday life, in the hectic activities and the precious quiet moments. Please pray for me.

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  5. What a funny story! I needed a little chuckle today, so thanks for sharing it with all of us! God bless you, and I hope you get some rest over the weekend =)

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  6. Anne,
    First I wanted to thank you for your kind and encouraging words on my reversion story. Thanks also to you and your son for being my latest followers. His blog is beautiful as is yours. His insight is far beyond his 15 years. I look forward to reading more from both of you.
    As for your OCD mistake, well this just proves God has a sense of humor. This is something I would have done although not sure I would have had the humility to blog about it.
    Thanks for a good laugh(with not at you).
    God Bless!

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  7. I'm sitting here with a huge smile on my face. I must say my first reaction to ocd was the same one you had....
    I'm sure your little mistake brought lots of smiles and out-loud laughs to many readers.
    Your humility in blogging about it was the final blessing.

    Thank you for stopping by my holy card blog and leaving a comment....I just added you to my links. I'll be back to read more.

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  8. Anne,

    That is a great story. Thanks for sharing it and giving us all the chuckle!

    I've also found it interesting that the order is called OCD. I personally have struggled with OCD throughout my life (I was in therapy for several years and am doing much better at managing it now, thank God). But for a while now, I've been thinking that it would be good to put up some OCD resources on my own blog, just to help build awareness and let people know of the information that's out there. Lots of people with OCD are deeply relieved to learn that there is a name for the weird thoughts they have ... and to learn that there is help.

    Anyhow. Sorry to get all serious! But your wonderful post reminded me of that idea and I'll be researching some good links. Thank you!

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  9. Too funny! Actually I think many carmelites are OCD. lol

    Have a blessed Day! I will keep you in prayer and you pray for me too!

    Hugs!

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