I've been feeling sorry for myself a lot of late... And I'm stuck in this one-person pity party despite the fact that I know I am luckier/more blessed/richer (that last one is figurative, for the record) than 99.9 percent of, well, everyone else on earth (i.e. abundant love, beloved family, dear friends, health, shelter, food, water, transportation, safety + way, way more...you get the idea). I feel shameful about my "woe is me" M.O., I do. And yet...I can't seem to shake my sort of perpetual state of Charlie Brown-ness.

The culprits are annoying enough — a car that has died, wait for it, 3 times in the past week and a half, all at the absolute most inopportune times (on the way to the girl's music presentation, in route to a photo shot carrying every. single. thing. that needed to be shot), a house in shambles due to a big project we're doing, never-ending piles of laundry, a cat that believes with every fiber of his being that my dining room rug is his litter box (we've been down this road before, I realize)...

Here is what's saving me right now, what's pulling me out of this temporary state of myopic whining and into a more tough love, get over it already place.

7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess
My friend Kerry recommended this book to me several weeks ago based solely on the fact that she thought I'd dig the author's attempt at drastic simplification (Kerry knows me well). I've been reading a little before bed each night, and, friends, it is slaying me. Granted, it's got a (major) religious bent, however, it is humbling, applicable, beautiful, funny, and moving, regardless of your religious affiliation (or lack there of). Let's just say it has my wheels turning... Big time.

Thanks Jen Hatmaker. I owe you one.