So, it’s been the week from hell.
You know the one - that week where everything in your world
appears to be flying apart at the seams and you’re running madly after it with
needle and thread trying to stitch it up before it becomes beyond repair.
Here’s the short version: sick with a cold; broke; husband
traveling trying to make us not broke; two adult children living at home due to
a variety of difficulties; condo in a constant state of disarray due to four
people living in a place designed for two; five projects running all at once at
work – each that require focus and attention to detail, neither of which I
possess right now; what seems like a million phone calls and/or emails with
someone on the other end wanting me to fix something, make them feel better, listen
to them complain, or give them money. It
just seems there aren't enough hours in the day, words in my vocabulary or dollars
in the bank. Repeat for 5 days straight and there you have it.
So, I've been running. Not literally, don’t be ridiculous,
who has time for physical exercise with all this going on? Running to keep up,
feeling constantly behind, like the treadmill is eternally on and there is no “Off”
switch.
Even better, I work in the field of self-development. I've spent years working “on myself”, raising my vibration, finding my center,
focusing on my inner peace. So, I of all people, should understand that “you
create your own reality”, “the law of attraction will bring you more of
whatever you focus on”, “you need to take care of yourself first or you have
nothing to give to others”, “love yourself and love will come to you”. Yeah,
yeah, yeah – I have no time to think about that right now. Those are lovely,
airy-fairy ideals, but in the next 2 hours I have copy to write, 15 more emails
to respond to, and a husband who needs to be picked up at the airport, which is
an hour away. Inner peace – right.
In spite of my internal mocking of my own beliefs, they are
somewhat ingrained. So I take few minutes to calm myself, come back to center
and envision my trip to the airport during rush hour flowing effortlessly. I
see the roads being free of traffic, the flight being on time, an easy journey
there and back, allowing me to get this done in the shortest amount of time
possible so I can get on to the next thing.
And it happens like that. Just as I've seen in my mind’s
eye, clear roads, flight on time, flashing lights and police sirens. Wait –
really? Yep. 100 yards from the terminal and I’m getting pulled over.
Seriously?? Who gets a ticket in the airport? It was all going so
well, I was nearly there, I had almost pulled it off, why? Why now?
The officer summed it up for me. I rolled down the window
and he said, “Ma’am, you need to slow down.”
Ya think? He had no
idea how correct he was.
Just when I had forgotten that the Universe often has a
wicked sense of humor, it sent me a cop who, other than the uniform, looked and
sounded exactly like George Jefferson (RIP Sherman Hemsley) to remind me, “That
airport ain’t goin’ nowhere.”
No, it ain’t…um, isn’t. Neither are any of my other projects
and issues. They’ll all still be there
when I get to them, at my own pace, in my own time. Some of the people who want me to fix them
might even wander off if I don’t reply immediately or have the words they want
to hear. I can take the time to actually
run, or walk, or nap, or do something that makes me feel like I’m re-filling my
fuel tank so that I can keep going. What a concept.
Thanks, George. I mean, Officer.
P.S. I could have done without the fine.
