Just One of Those Days

The journey in life brings all of us one of those days. You know what I am talking about, the kind of day where it starts out with one plan in mind and goes completely in the opposite direction. I had to laugh when I got into my car at 9:30 pm to run to the store, after the crazy day I've had and the Wilson-Phillips song was playing, "Hold on for one more day...and things will go your way." It was another lesson in going with the flow, but this time Vermont was not involved. You see, tomorrow we were all set to fly to Orlando, Florida for a week at Disney World, the happiest place on earth and our first trip there. The glitch....my four year old has been sick all week with what turns out to be the flu and has a cough that could stop a Mack truck! Today's quick trip to see the doctor for a follow up visit, sent our Disney plans on a detour. The doc suggested that we give my son's cough three more days to get better, thanks to a nebulizer, rest and antibiotics. Okay, since I am the queen of go with the flow, no big deal, we make some phone calls and reschedule the trip for next week. It has overall been a week of go with the flow. Since he has been sick, I have had to cancel at least 15 client sessions, I'm behind on all of my e-mails and phone calls and now need to rebook this trip to leave early next week. NO PROBLEM. A venti skim mocha later and squeezing calls in to the airlines, travel agent and being on hold forever (all between client sessions), we managed to change everything, relatively easily to a Monday departure. It seems that most of my clients today had one of those days too. One client showed up late and told me how she spilled her entire lunch of chicken noodle soup all over her lap! My earlier client missed her session because she was stuck at the DMV for several hours. Another client completely forgot about her appointment and another got rear ended on her way to session. All of this occurred before 6pm. I then had to cancel some of my later appointments because my son was crying so badly from the cough, that all he wanted was mommy. The interesting thing, the attitude of my parents who are joining us on this trip, was initially completely the opposite! They seemed worried about the whole thing and brought up all of the fear and doubt. Emotions run high when people are in fear. The fears they vented about, "what if someone else gets sick, our airlines won't change the tickets, what if you end up cancelling, we might still get the flu on the plane." You have to keep in mind that they also forwarded us an e-mail advising us to wear sneakers on the plane in case we crash and need to walk through debris. Hmm, I think if we crash, I won't need sneakers to walk into the afterlife. Debris would not be one of my concerns. You get the idea of the fear based thinking and it is the opposite of go with the flow. To be fair, my parents are not the only ones who react that way, since so many people jump into fear based thinking as their initial response to stressors. That is the reality many people live in.......I prefer my reality. We can't predict the future, so all we can go with is what we know today. With a positive attitude and hope that my son will feel better, we are all set to depart next week. The upside is, I have some clients in desperate need to be seen and I am now able to squeeze them in before Monday and hopefully I will catch up on some billing this weekend. Instead of focusing on the stress of the changes, we adapted, made the changes and are directing our energy to what we have to look forward to. Even my parents finally decided to go with the flow and figured out a way to adapt to the whole situation. The kids were completely fine with the changes and nobody threw a tantrum or got upset. It was another lesson in coping with the unexpected. So when life throws you into an unintended direction, find a way to cope with the situation as positively as possible. It makes everything go so much more smoothly. Here is your challenge....when you have one of those days, which you will, catch yourself and face it with optimism and a smile (and a bit of chocolate if needed).