Is it just me or is it extremely frustrating when life doesn’t follow your script?
I am the girl who likes everything in its place and my days planned out. I love it when things go exactly according to plan. You can imagine my frustration when my flight to Hilton Head Island was delayed due to wildfires in Canada that caused low visibility in New York. I was faced with a choice: 1) stay on my current flight and hope that I didn’t get grounded in New York or worse miss my connecting flight or 2) switch to a later flight that flew through Atlanta. My personality was telling me to risk it and get to Hilton Head earlier but everything in my spirit was screaming at me to switch to the later flight. The moment that I made the decision to switch flights, my whole body relaxed. Granted I was still annoyed at spending half of my day in an airport but at least I wouldn’t be stuck and unable to get out.
My airport story is just one way life constantly reminds me that not everything goes according to my plans. I may not be able to control life but I can control how I respond when life happens. Sure, I could let the flight delay and added travel time put me into a bad mood but what does that accomplish? It won’t change my circumstances and it will cause me to start vacation in a bad mood. I can enjoy the journey, take the opportunity to enjoy lunch, and apparently write a blog post. I can choose to make the best decisions that I can with the information that I have available and trust that things will work out.
Back to my airplane story. It turns out that the New York flight landed in Hilton Head on time but I wasn’t willing to take the risk that I would miss my connector. Given that the Pittsburgh flight landed 10 minutes before the connector departed, there’s a chance I might have missed it. To me, it wasn’t worth the risk. Why am I sharing that? Because life is full of risks and it’s up to us to decide which risks are worth it. Some risks might not be worth it, like a delayed flight or a bad business investment. Some risks might be a good thing, like starting a new job or taking a trip. Relationships are a risk, whether it be romantic, friendship, or business. We risk being rejected or found to be less than perfect when we open ourselves up to a new person. Being vulnerable and open about our struggles or our life carries a risk of being hurt. Writing a blog (or sharing your story) is a risk we take because we are letting our guard down. While we have to be careful about who we let in, we can miss out on the beautiful experiences that happen when we allow someone past our walls. We miss out on having people to share our life with, in the good times and the bad. We miss having a partner who can step in to lift us up and be our soft place to land. We also rob people of our authentic selves and the wisdom and love that we bring. It’s always scary to be vulnerable and open but if they are the right people, it’s so worth it.
I could have just thrown in the towel today. I could have decided that the uncertainty and the chaos were too much but I would have missed out on the beautiful vacation that’s waiting for me. I also wouldn’t have gotten a blog post out of it. Life is messy and complicated, uncertain and scary sometimes. But if we lean into the uncertainty and risk stepping into the unknown, it can also be a beautiful, exciting and wonderful adventure. I challenge you to step into the unknown today and embrace whatever the day brings. The most important thing about life is to never do it alone.
Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.
George Bernard Shaw