Finding peace
"This too shall pass"
Today is not the day I thought I was going to have.
For months now, me and my family have been planning a Christmas weekend away. It is something we have been talking about for a long time. This year there were lots of special birthdays and anniversaries so we decided we would get it booked. We have all been looking forward to it and it has been so much fun this week, seeing the excitement build and plans starting to come together in the family WhatsApp.
It was all going so well until I got back from a quick food shopping trip to get supplies about 9am this morning. I came home to find Rob’s head under the sink and towels on the floor. Then I heard the words you never want to hear the morning you are going away; “we’ve got a problem”. There was a hissing noise, water on the floor and no way to access whatever pipe was leaking. My heart sunk into my boots.
Luckily, we have cover for this so I got on the phone to see if we could get an emergency plumber only to be told the earliest would be next Thursday and that we had to turn the stopcock off. I put the phone down and the reality of the situation started to wash over on me. No shower, no hair wash, one of us having to stay home. Trip ruined. I started to let things escalate in my mind and there were tears. I have not seen my family in 18 months as we live about 350 miles apart and I felt all the excitement leave my body and disappointment kick in.
Then I took a breath.
Rob and I started to work through the problem. I got back on the phone with the insurance and spoke to someone else. I explained that we had been told to turn off the water for 6 days which was not going to be practical. She agreed it should be an emergency call and arranged for a plumber to visit today or at the latest tomorrow morning. This was part of the problem solved with one phone call.
We looked at different scenarios that meant we would at least get to spend some time with our family. Before too long we had 2 or 3 plans that we could put into action depending on when the plumber could get to us.
Why am I telling you this?
I believe that life often holds up a mirror to show you what you do well and what you still need to work on. This is what this situation has reminded me:
It is ok to show your emotions. I advocate allowing emotions to flow freely. We keep so much bottled up and it does not do our nervous system any good. The word has motion written into it for a reason. Emotions are meant to flow through us. I had a cry, and I felt better for it. Shedding a few tears allowed me to move form disappointment and frustration into problem solving mode. I also got an extra cuddle from Rob which is always lovely.
I made a post on Facebook about how my positive mindset was being tested and a friend of mine reminded me that it might be helpful to reframe the scenario. I was really grateful for the mirror being held up. I use reframing all the time with my coaching clients and in that moment, it was a beautiful reminder to use my own toolkit.
The situation we are dealing with is minor in the grand scheme of things. We are lucky we have found this leak before we have left to go away for a couple of nights. We have experienced some water on a floor and a delay to a trip. It is a minor inconvenience compared to the mess we might have come back home to on Sunday had the water been leaking continuously for three days. It would probably have involved insurance claims, a lot of admin and a lot of cleaning (not to mention the loss of water). So actually, there is a lot to be grateful for.
And then there is this blog post. I had written a post for today and I was not happy with it as I felt I had rushed it. I now have a few hours while we wait for the plumber which means instead of rushing around and publishing something I wasn’t happy with, I have had the gift of time to be able to pause, reflect and write something more meaningful.
Sometimes the delays we experience happen for a reason. Perhaps the motorways were going to be really busy this morning and it will actually be a better journey when we finally set off later. Who knows? I will trust that this has happened for a reason, and it has gifted some moments of learning and reflection.
Next time you find yourself with an unexpected problem/ situation, here are some questions to help you:
What emotion are you feeling and how you can you release it?
What is this situation reminding you about? Is it your strength, courage, ability to adapt? What is the lesson here?
What is the blessing?
I am going to take these next couple of hours to finish my Christmas shopping so that I can go away knowing that it is all done. Then I can finally enjoy some much-needed time with my family, even if we might be a few hours later than planned.
This too shall pass, and it will all work out for the best in the end.
I truly believe that.
