Am I Just Getting Mellower?
A few weeks ago someone told me that he thinks I am the calmest person he knows. He said that nothing seems to rattle my cage.
I laughed because my cage gets rattled, dropped, and stepped on as much as the next person’s. I’ve just installed invisible padding inside my cage so that when it gets knocked around, I bounce around and enjoy the ride. 
This past Friday was a day when my cage was knocked off it’s stand and kicked around the neighborhood.
Rather than bore you with the details I’ll just offer the highlights…
The weather report: Snow, sleet, ice. Ick!
The vehicle report I: A locked car, a twisted and bent key. Uh oh!
The vehicle report II: Stalled in a lake that hours earlier had been a street. Yikes!
As I reflect on the comment about my “unruffled” nature and the events of last Friday, I realized that I am pretty calm in most situations. Here’s how I approached each event.
The weather: It was what it was going to be.
I had no control over it so I rescheduled my day around the possibility that I may be stranded at home. I cancelled plans for late afternoon because these impacted other people who would need to venture out on potentially hazardous roads. I did go shopping in the morning and kept a lunch date with friends who were already near the restaurant. I checked in with them through out the morning to see if they wanted to reschedule. Basically, I played it by ear… waiting, watching and evaluating the weather conditions as the day progressed.
The twisted key and the locked car door: It was what it was.
I slipped, twisted the car key and was stuck with it. Although I tried to straighten and flatten the key, it was too mangled to risk inserting in the lock. I called Gerry to see if he could bring his key to me (if he couldn’t, I would have called AAA to tow the car back to my house). He could so I enjoyed a nice lunch with my friends. I didn’t worry or fret about the car.
The drowing car: It was what it was.
The snow and sleet changed in to a rainy downpour as the temperature rose. Unfortunately the water had no place to go so the streets started flooding. My Volkswagon Golf stalled out in the middle of one of these puddles. Yes, it was frustrating, but we were able to get the car to the side of the road and out of the way of traffic. Gerry and I waited together in our minivan for AAA to come tow the car to our mechanic. We waited and waited and waited. Rather than getting totally frustrated with the situation, we listened to Christmas carols and enjoyed a couple of hours of conversation. It was rather nice in a way. After two hours, we left the key in the car and let AAA know that we were going home. We trusted that they would take care of the car when they could get to it.
As I told friends about my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day I couldn’t help but laugh at the mishaps and smile at the unexpected blessings.
You see, Gerry has never met the two friends I met for lunch. So they finally got to meet each other. Sweet!
Another blessing was the time spent waiting for AAA to arrive to tow our car. Although I wouldn’t intentionally spend more than 2 hours in a dark parking lot, it was a nice opportunity for Gerry and I to catch up with each other’s news.
Last Friday was a day full of challenges… I had no control over them so I made the best of them.
How do you handle life’s challenges? When your cage is rattled how do you respond? Do you recognize what is outside your locus of control or do you try to force the situation to conform to your wishes? Do you look for solutions or dwell on the problems?
At one time in my life I would have been flustered, frustrated and furious about Friday’s events. But I’ve learned that I can accept, adapt and appreciate just about anything that comes my way.
Maybe I’m just getting mellower, but why waste time and energy on the negative when you can enjoy the positives?
