Flowing With The Undesired
Published on 31 May 2009 at 6:51 am.
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Filed under Feature Articles, Personal Development Strategies, Spirituality & Inspiration.
Two weeks ago I was scheduled to visit a client in Oregon to celebrate the grand opening of her new business. My flight was scheduled to leave at 7:38 am which meant I had to be up in the wee hours to make it to the airport without getting caught in rush hour traffic.
From the time I left my house and arrived in Eugene, Oregon, I had quite a day.
Here’s what happened:
I planned to wake up at 3:50 am so I could be ready to be on the road on the way to the airport by 5:15 am at the latest. I accidentally turned off my alarm and awoke at 4:17 am wondering what time it was! Thankfully, when I checked online, I saw the plane had a later departure due to the weather. With a little over 90 minutes to change planes in Denver, I figured I would be able to make my connecting flight even if we left late.
The flight was sold out and as I was boarding, we were told that the overhead compartments were full and so they took one of my carry on bags to be put onto the plane with an assurance it would be there for me at the gate when we landed. By the time we were in the air, it was after 9am and we were still expected to land in Denver with about 30 minutes to get to my next gate.
Chatting with fellow passengers and watching Last Chance Harvey with Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson, I had a nagging feeling I might miss my connecting flight that was due to arrive in Eugene at 1:37 pm. I purposely booked the early morning reservation to spend some time in the afternoon with my client, unwind from the flight and celebrate my friend Kathleen’s birthday that evening, where I was staying.
By the time we landed in Denver, I had already missed my flight. After standing in line with 70 other people who also missed flights, I finally got the last seat to fly to San Francisco due to leave 2 1/2 hours later and once I arrived, I had a 4 hour layover so that I could make another flight to Eugene and land at 9:30 pm.
As I sat in the Denver airport feeling tired and frustrated, I felt myself teetering on slipping into my cranky, “poor me” victim consciousness and holding the thought that there must be a reason; a Divine purpose I was unaware of for the chain of events of the day thus far. A reason I would probably never understand. Perhaps there was something I was meant to avoid or be protected from, someone I was supposed to meet and speak with……. who knows?
Regardless of whether I liked what was happening made no difference - it was what it was. I could either surrender to where I was or make myself miserable by struggling with what happened because things didn’t go the way I planned. Stress, tension, anger, frustration, impatience, and judgments create constriction physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Gratitude, acceptance, curiosity, faith, trust, playfullness creates expansion and ease.
Which would you choose?
So, I made a decision to accept what was happening and choose how and who I wanted to be for the rest of the day. As I sat there at the gate I had a sudden inspired idea to call my dear friend Kimberly Marooney in California. I wondered if she lived close to the San Francisco airport and if she might want to meet me for dinner. I hadn’t seen her since we both attended Christine Kloser’s Freedom Formula Experience in Jan. and I thought how great it would be to see her on my way to Oregon!
She was home and excited to meet me for dinner. On the flight to San Francisco, I slept for a while, and listened to several recordings on my ipod that I use for attitude shifting. By the time I landed, I was in a great mood and happy to be meeting Kimberly for a few hours. Over dinner we laughed that the reason I had such a wild day was because we were supposed to get together in San Francisco. Sure, why not?
So, after a very long day, I deplaned in Eugene, Oregon at 9:30 pm with my one bag and my client waiting at the gate with a huge smile. My other bag would be delivered in the morning before the grand opening. When we arrived at Kathleen’s there was still a little time to have some cake and wish her happy birthday!
My attitude shifters that day:
1. Breathing
2. Meditation
3. 7 minutes of a recorded call laughing hysterically with my buddy Anita Pathik Law
4. Focusing on gratitude and appreciation of all the good in my life - friends, clients, my cats….
5. Looking for the blessings in the situation. I was safe and unhurt, wasn’t I?
6. Trusting and having faith in the Universe that things happen for a reason
7. Reading a new book I brought
8. Taking 100% responsibility for my attitude and actions
9. Making things a game to lighten the mood - such as how many new people can I meet? How many people might I be of service to today?
I look at the day as an adventure that offered many blessings, personal growth, and healing opportunities:
- I met lots of new people
- Had some interesting conversations
- Received help and support from strangers
- Saw Last Chance Harvey, a movie I had wanted to see
- Had an delightfully unexpected visit with Kimberly
- Experienced multiple opportunitiesfor personal growth and spiritual evolution
- I was safe and unhurt. All of my needs were met
What do you do when things don’t go the way you expect or desire?
Do you roll with LIFE or fight against it?
What helps you shift your attitude and energy from constriction to expansion?
Have a great weekend!
Lorraine
www.isayyesnow.com
www.powerfull-living.biz
