How Flexible Are You?
I think one of the keys to living a success-filled life is flexibility! I don’t mean the kind that allows you to fold yourself into a 2 x 2 foot box. I mean the kind that allows you to go with the flow when outside circumstances force you to change your plans.
Case in point… yesterday (Thanksgiving Day here in the U.S.) my family and I planned to drive to Massachusetts to spend the day with my mother and siblings. It’s a 2-hour drive in good weather conditions.
Yesterday was not good weather conditions. We had our first snow storm of the year. It was wet, soupy snow. The roads were a mess.
But in the spirit of holiday anticipation, we planned to drive down anyway. We got in our VW Golf and headed off. Unfortunately, the cold and snow had warped the windshield wiper blades or something because they weren’t doing a good job of keeping the windshield clear.
We returned home and hopped into our minivan. We were off again! Unfortunately, as we approached the turnpike on-ramp, some idiot who hadn’t cleared the snow off all of his windows nearly side-swiped us. We were in the right lane and he decided that’s where he wanted to be. At that point I was ready to go home. But Gerry drove on…
We had gone about 10-12 miles, had already seen a couple of cars off the road, when a pickup truck blew past us. Gerry and I marveled at the stupidity of some drivers. We also decided we’d turn around at the next exit and just come home.
We both heaved heavy sighs of relief when we turned right onto our street. Our snowy driveway was a welcome sight.
I called my mother to tell her we couldn’t make it after all. She felt bad, but understood. A few minutes later my sister called, worried about what we’d be eating for Thanksgiving and to say she’d miss us.
Outside conditions messed up our plans for the day.
We could have been stubborn and persevered. We may have made it safely to my mother’s house, but if we had, Gerry and I most definitely would have been on edge after the long harrowing drive. The kids would probably have been irritable because the normally 2-hour drive would have taken at least three.
But we were flexible enough to change our plans. And when we got home, rather than moan and complain about all that we’d be missing, we made the best of what we had. We changed into comfy clothes, watched television and played video games. We rested, relaxed and enjoyed the snow from the warmth of our home.
When outside circumstances force you to change your plans what is your response? Do you rant and rave or do you just go with the flow? You cannot control every situation in life. You can, however, control your response to it… if you are flexible enough.
