Today was not supposed to be a super crazy day, and yet somehow that was exactly what it was. Case in point: I left my house at 3:30pm and ended up not making it back home until just after 7! Factor in a Jocelyn and Molly who were experiencing cabin fever or just being impossible 4- and 2-year-olds, and I was pretty frazzled.
In the middle of this madness, I had to pick Ava up from dance class early so she could make it to a Girl Scout function by our house. I left the restaurant where we ended up getting dinner at 6pm to drive about 5 miles to get Ava. In my head, we would get to the studio about 6:15, she would change clothes, we'd leave between 6:25 and 6:30 and have plenty of time to get her to her event at 7pm. That plan deteriorated quickly, however, when it took me FORTY minutes to drive those 5 measly miles. I was tapping my hands on the wheel, fidgeting in my seat, willing the cars in front of me to magically start moving faster or even disappear altogether.
Then I took a step back. What was all my stressing out accomplishing? Could I actually will these cars to move faster or make me less late? No. So I took a breath (well, maybe four or five breaths) and relaxed. I called the dance studio after a while and asked that Ava be pulled out of class to change so she would be ready to jump in the car when I got there. I pulled up to the studio, Ava got into the car, and I drove as fast as I was allowed to (how I describe it to my kids). And you know what? In the end we still managed to get Ava to her Holiday Hugs and Hot Cocoa event five minutes early. I had a refresher in letting go of what I cannot control. All I did by worrying and stressing out was work myself up - likewise, my letting go of my frustration and anxiety did not change the outside factors, but it made me more relaxed. I can't change everything around me, but I always have control of how I react to the world around me.
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