Have you ever thought things were perfect until you saw clearly that they weren’t? How do you handle it? Do you laugh or cry?
When stuff happens that is outside of our control, but affects us in a way we hadn’t imagined, we have a choice of how to respond. This your life and your journey. How will you navigate it?
It was so perfect . . .
I moved into a dream condo in February of 2021. After over 10 years of planning, financing, and completing the project, it finally became a reality. As expected, there were adjustments to be made, but overall, this was a great move. For the first time in my life, I had a view from my home and couldn’t get enough of the beautiful clouds and sunsets.
Earlier this fall, a window washer showed up and cleaned the grime off from summer dust and rain. At first, I couldn’t watch because it made me nervous to observe this from the fifth floor. Eventually, I got up the courage, but stayed very still as to not startle him. Like a circus performer, he hung from the roof of the building, lowered himself down with a rope, and made our windows sparkle. It was fun to look through clean windows. I had gotten used to the dirt on the windows and didn’t even notice it was there.
Last weekend, my husband and I entered our dream condo, he gasped, ‘oh no!’ There on the floor to ceiling window was a 4’ long stripe of bird doo doo. It is the first thing you notice as you walk in the door.
. . . and then it wasn’t
My first response was to laugh. It must have been a very big, or very sick bird! Never in my life had I seen such a considerable fecal discharge. After a few moments, disappointment settled in. Really? Our living room will be decorated with poop until the window washer comes again in the spring? My husband estimated the cost to get a window washer out to clean this up would be substantial. So finally, I decided this bird’s digestive issues was beyond my control and there was a lesson here.
· Sh*t happens
· Things aren’t perfect
· The best laid plans cannot account for everything
· I am not in control
· Sometimes I have to look through the messy stuff to see beauty
· Other people see your crap too (it’s the first thing you see when you walk in the door)
· Stuff can be covered up (by pulling the shade), but it doesn’t make it go away
· No matter how cool I think I am, animals don’t care
· It can be challenging to clean up a mess (yours or other people’s)
· Stormy weather, rain or snow, are sometimes what it takes to clean up a mess
· I can decide to let it be a lesson (see the imperfections in life and roll with it / don’t pay attention to something I cannot control / rearrange things until the dirtiness can be taken care of)
Is it bad . . .
You might use other words to express your surprise and disgust, but have you said some version of ‘oh crap!’ lately? What part of the scenario is out of your control? Is there any part that is within it? Are there ways for you to rearrange things? Is it possible to laugh about it? Have you clearly assessed the cost to repair the damage? What lesson is this showing you?
. . . or good?
Bird poo is funny. A car accident is not. Stool on my window is a first world problem, but serious illness is not. Obvious flaws in my life are simply embarrassing, but the realization that my choices have caused damage cause deep pain.
What challenge do you face that came without warning and is causing you discomfort? What can you do about it? What are you doing about it?
Take time to think through various possibilities before you let it get you down. Life will include adversity. Use these events as a time to feel the disappointment, choose how you will respond, and find the lesson in the circumstances.