It’s that time of the year when things get busy: everyone is trying to get things finished before the end of the year, there are social functions, school functions and general Christmas festivities to fit in, plus there’s the shopping and general preparations for what is arguably the most prominent event on our annual calendar – Christmas. So when things go wrong at this time of year, it can easily be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and send a normally sane person into a complete meltdown.
That could’ve easily been the case for me this weekend, but instead I somehow managed to remain incredibly calm and experienced the wonder of going with the flow, instead of the extra stress associated with resisting reality.
I was so far behind with my work commitments, hadn’t even begun the Christmas shopping, and the Christmas tree had already been deleted from the agenda and put back into storage, so I really didn’t have time to attend my friend’s baby shower, especially as she lives three hours away. But she is a good friend, and I decided that actually, an enforced overnight break out of town may be just what the doctor ordered. That was fine until, at 7pm on a country road in the middle of nowhere, my car broke down and refused to go again. I got to experience the best of human nature as some local farmers towed me to the nearest town, where we left my car outside a garage, and my dear friends came and collected me. For the next two days, we were stuck on an idyllic rural property with no car, and no cell phone or broadband coverage, with nothing to do but relax until the car could be fixed.
At this point most of us would stress and worry about all the things we are supposed to be doing, the meetings we are missing, the tasks that are not being done. Or, we can practice going with the flow and trusting that the present is prefect, that everything is exactly how it supposed to be, even if it’s not how we would like it.
Dan Millman says, “Stress is the mind’s refusal to accept what is.” Ain’t that the truth? We don’t have to like reality, but accepting what the current reality is, is a great starting point to make changes, without getting eaten up by stress of it.
One of my favourite quotes is from the Dalai Lama who says, “Sometimes when things don’t go your way, it’s a wonderful stroke of luck.”
And a friend of mine is fond of the notion “that it’s not going wrong, it’s just going.” I had set my intention to replace my car before Christmas, maybe this is part of the process? You have to clear the old to make way for the new. Or maybe Santa is just being cheeky and having some fun with my Christmas wishlist?
Either way, things will go wrong for each and every one of us. We can either make it ten times worse for ourselves by stressing about it, or go with the flow, accept the current reality and see how you can make the best of it.
By Jacqui Thomas
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