Step in the right direction…

I am like Helen Keller discovering the word for “water” as far as this whole “living calmly and peacefully” thing goes.

It might seem silly to someone reading this who has never had an issue with being wound too tight – but to me, discovering new ways to respond to life is nothing short of amazing.  I have been an ulcer/heart attack/anxiety attack waiting to happen.

So today I found out that my husband is scheduled to work until 11:00 tomorrow morning, which completely messes up my plans for the day [one vehicle, two separate work places].  You see,  I normally make myself available on Wednesday mornings in a coffee shop near my church, for parents/leaders/whoever to stop by.  Sometimes I schedule meetings; other times I don’t.  This is my way of preparing for teaching on Wednesday nights and building relationships in one fell swoop.

Unfortunately, my husband’s getting off at 11:00 am means that I cannot even get to the church until noonish. 

In my recent past, this would have resulted in my freaking out, crying tears of frustration, cursing my husband’s boss for not being consistent with her scheduling.  But today I realized that my anxiety, my frustration, my misplaced anger [because I do not have the opportunity to be angry with his boss face to face, my husband would end up getting the brunt of my frustration - as if he has any control over when he is scheduled]…none of it will make things better.

So I regrouped.  There is a coffee shop down the street from my house that I can easily walk to.  I sent out a mass e-mail to parents and leaders, letting them know of my one-day change of venue, and let the church secretary know where I’d be until around noonish, should someone need to get ahold of me.

Simple solution.  No tears.  No anger.  No frustration.  Just plain, 100% problem solving.

Again, something this small may seem silly to your average person reading this, but to me it is rather significant.  Life is all about choices, including how one responds to the average crappy inconveniences that happen from day to day.  To sound like a cliched self-help book, I can control my emotions and not allow them to control me.