😊𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬 . . . 𝐨𝐫, 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐖𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐑𝐮𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐲 𝐃𝐚𝐲!

I was so excited to go to a craft fair last Saturday! I'd worked all week on new products and wanted to practice setting up our tables and talk to people about our products. I was also anxious to try the Point of Sale machine we got so we could accept payments by credit card, PayPal, Venmo, etc. (Thanks to Isabelle for helping me with that--it's all new to me!) Sam got me a wagon to transport set-up items and products and we were excited about that too. We got up early, finished packing and drove to Seward.

When I gave my name at the check in desk, the lady looked over her list, shook her head, and said "𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅." I showed her the email confirming my registration, and she said, "𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆--𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒅." 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧?!?! Apparently scammers go to the page of craft fair information and enter their OWN information, so that people who want to be vendors email and pay them, the scammer, instead of the people who really are running the show. We were sooooo disappointed!

But there was nothing the lady could do besides tell me never to send payment thru any online method--most legit craft shows only accept paper checks, through the mail (how old fashioned!). I may or may not have fought back tears and heaved a deep sigh or two as we headed for home. After a few minutes of pouting (by me--Sam rarely pouts!), we started counting our blessings. We would be home by mid-morning, so could still get a LOT done during the day (and we did!). I had gotten a LOT of products created and labels made during the week so have a head start on the next craft fair. Sam and I got to spend the morning together And we will be at many more craft fairs this spring, and the farmer's market here in Columbus every week this summer.

I told a friend what had happened and she replied, "𝐼 𝑏𝑒𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑝𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑!" Well, yes, I was. But I realized that being upset wouldn't change anything, and, the older I get the more I realize that being mad just takes too much energy. There are too many things to be thankful for!

I challenge you, when you could be angry, to choose counting your blessings. It's a step on the way to long-term wellness--body, mind and spirit.