The Gift of Limitations
For the past 2 months my husband and I have been renting an old and tiny cabin in our interim between houses. It has been an adventure to say the least!
The cabin harkens back to when we were both growing up and experienced vacations in similar places: tiny little bathroom, inefficient tiny kitchen, tiny bedrooms that have room only for a bed….did I mention it is tiny?
Consequently, we stumble around the uneven floor that makes one feel like a drunken sailor trying to avoid boxes, bags, and suitcases out of which we are living. I’m not the most organized person to begin with but this has pushed me into a world of chaos that I have not experienced to date!
So what is the gift you are saying? Well, living this way has made me ever so grateful for things like warm water coming out of a tap (here it takes about 5 minutes for the water to warm up which wastes a lot of water and makes me feel guilty!), dishwashers (other than ourselves of course), an in home laundry facility (I am on a first name basis with everyone using the Laundromat), floors which are relatively flat and stable, lighting (we have it but it is minimal), outlets (for a cabin which did not get electricity until the 1940’s, they have had to jerry rig every electric outlet….all 8 of them. This is not adequate for today’s modern conveniences and all our electronic technological gear!), in home heaters….and air conditioners!, clean laundry (did I already mention that?!!!!), drawers in which to put things, …..well, I could go on but you get the drift.
To top things off, I was to go to Sedona this morning to visit with girlfriends. Due to terrible weather last night in Chicago, the plane was unable to make it up to Traverse City so we could fly out today. They cancelled that flight last night just as I was about to go to sleep for my 3:00am wake up call. I spent another hour on the phone trying to rebook and the earliest I can get there is 3 days late. So, I began to feel that rising of panic and anger but just as quickly it just disappeared! I truly cannot tell you why but I went into a very calm place.
This is ground breaking because about 12 years ago I was going on a trip with one of these same women and we were to meet in the Houston airport to continue our trip to Costa Rica. However, the gods had other plans and there I was at the airport in Chicago with a cancelled flight to Houston. Again, I could not rebook for 3 days, much too late to meet up with my friend and continue on to CR.
The outcome at that time is that I had a complete meltdown at O’hare airport. Have you ever stood on the outside of yourself and wondered who on earth that person is acting so ridiculously? That was me. The more I watched her, the worse she got. Jeepers! Where did THAT come from I wondered even while it was happening!
My point is that I am finally beginning to see results from all these life challenges and how I am at long last reaping the benefits of soul growth. I am so at peace today, even though my friends are already together and already having fun even though I asked them to wait until I get there for that!
It just goes to show that we are never in charge even though we fool ourselves into thinking that we are. We ARE in charge of our reactions to events, and that is where the power lies. I’m finding that learning to roll with what life hands out is a lot easier than fighting against it or crying over it, and that my world has become far easier to negotiate because of that.
“Change and challenge are inevitable. How we react is choice.” Diantha Harris
“Life is a series of punches. It presents a lot of challenges. It presents a lot of hardship, but the people that are able to take those punches and able to move forward are the ones that really do have a lot of success and have a lot of joy in their life and have a lot of stories to tell, too.” Josh Turner
“God always has a plan. Everything happens for a reason, good or bad. We just got to roll with the punches.” Unknown
“I don’t like to get ahead of myself in any way but I’m just trying to roll with the punches and enjoy every aspect of everything I’m lucky enough to be a part of and I try to be present and in the moment for each of those opportunities and have fun in all of them.” Matthew Bomer