How Do You handle “One of those days?”
A three hour traffic jam
A mechanical problem on the plane
An obnoxious drunk
What do these three have in common? A common thought -- “oh no, it’s going to be one of those days!”
That’s the day I experienced and the thought I had a couple of days ago. And the thought was becoming a fast-rushing train hurtling toward my peace of mind. My day would be derailed if I didn’t gain control of that out-of-control thought.
I’ll tell you what I did to get back on track, but first let me fill you in on the ingredients of that mess.
It was one of those days…… Actually, it seemed like a few days.
The first problem – A three-hour traffic jam. Jerry and I had been on a combination business/pleasure mini-vacation and were headed back to Phoenix when we saw cars lined up ahead of us. There were no nearby exits; we were stuck. We sat there, parking-lot style, for three hours.
The next day we prepared to go home, ready to leave our problems behind. But no. We boarded the plane, taxied out to the runway when the pilot announced these dreaded words: “Ladies and gentlemen, there’s a mechanical problem which requires us to return to the terminal for the mechanics to fix it.”
We were stuck in the airplane for an additional hour which seemed like three. It was already late at night, almost midnight, and I thought I’d try to rest a while. But no. An obnoxiously and obviously drunk lady behind us very loudly kept proclaiming we were all going to die! Even after we finally took off, she kept loudly cursing and laughing until I wanted to turn around and slap her! (In Christian love, of course)
I can assure you, I got no rest and exhausted, fell into bed after 1 AM
The next morning at work it was tempting to wonder, “OK, what’s going to go wrong now?“
Well, I decided to change the direction of those thoughts because I know the enemy would love nothing more than for me to live in negativity, worry and defeat. I think he’d love for all of us to live that way!
But I decided to stop that train and take charge of me. I took a few minutes to read what God says about renewing our minds. I took a few minutes to pray. I took a few minutes to do my “shake and bake exercises and stretches” to change my thoughts, my energy, and my body.
In just those few minutes. I began to feel calm and was able to focus on all the things I was grateful for in spite of those aggravating incidents. We did not die. We got home safely. I changed my thoughts to joy and anticipation for the next adventure. Because it is true that while we cannot always prevent what happens to us., we can change how we respond to it. And sometimes, as in this case, we have to see how quickly we can rebound.
Life isn’t about how fast you can run or how high you can climb….
It’s all about how well you can bounce!
How do you handle life’s obstacles and irritants? How fast and well can you bounce? You probably have a different “formula” you follow to renew your mind, but contact me by commenting below if you would like more details about the steps I took.
