Failure or Success?

Today was a bit of a challenge for me with respect to doing just one thing that would improve my life. Part of the challenge is that I watched two nine-year-old girls, my step-daughter Ellee and her best friend Emily, as the bickered and fought their way through the day. There would have been a ton of opportunities to do one thing with them after all they were giving me huge challenges to keep my cool or react in a way that I wouldn't normally do when frustrated. All of us survived the day without any lasting hurt feelings or loss of blood, the cat remains unshaved, and the house is still intact (mostly, although I am applying for federal disaster relief for Ellee's room), but I had been thinking that I could have done better. However, as I reflect on the day I realize that I did do better. While, I may not have have been June Cleaver in crinolines and pearls (how long is it going to take to get that image scrubbed out of your brain?), I did actually maintain my calm and composure quite a bit. I also recognized the fact that by the end of the day, I was feeling a little wound up and rather than letting it progress into negative thinking, I did something to nip it in the bud. While the day is starting to wind down, there are still a few more hours for me to do one thing.