It's crazy what life does when you make plans. For the past several months, NOTHING has ever gone as planned. And for someone like me with an innate need for controlling what happens to me, this has been quite a test of my ability (or lack thereof) to roll with things.I've always wanted to be easy going and I think sometimes I really can be. Back in the Myspace days everyone had on their profile that they were "easy going"... but the term control freak exists because not everyone is. If we were all "easy going", there wouldn't be a term describing people that are, because we all would be. I'm starting to go off on a tangent. Let me save this post from being derailed.
What I'm really trying to say is, this year has really tested me. Work, relationships, life in general have all been insanely good, but also really challenging. I have had to learn to be more easy going, and I feel like I've done a great job but I have so much more to learn. I need to learn to roll with whatever comes my way. I picture this as a stuntman. You know when they're thrown off the hood of a car, and they roll through the fall? These stuntmen get scrapes and bruises, but they've learned how to roll with things so they don't get severe injuries. Then they jump back up and roll with the next fall. I tend to put my arms out and try to catch myself. If a stuntman did this, he'd probably break his arms, or shoulders every single time he fell.
I feel like even more lately everything is not going according to plan. So much good is happening, and I'm getting frustrated because it's not how I planned it. There are challenges of my patience through all of this too. I'm losing patience, and I'm losing my ability to let things go, because I'm resisting the changes and trying to stick to my original plan. It's funny, sometimes you can throw whatever you want at me and I'll be like, "sure that sounds great, let's deal with that now". But lately that is not the case for me.
I'm going to spend the next month learning to roll with things better. I'm going to have more patience, more smiles on my face, and more peace (if I succeed). For those that have had to deal with my frustrated reactions when I can't control things -- *cough* Justin *cough*-- thank you for doing so. I love you more than you know, and I'm so grateful for you. I am going to learn to love the "delicious ambiguity" of my life right now.
Oh and Justin and I went to a Masquerade ball last week. Don't we look awesome? I love this photo.
What about you? Have any of you ever had to learn to roll with things? If you have and want to share with me ways you mastered letting go of the need for control, please post them in my comments. I'd love to hear your advice, opinions, and even insults if you have them. Ha!
My life has been one VERY long series of rolling with the punches. For me, the only way that I have managed is a LOT of time on my knees in prayer. The closer that I keep myself to the Lord, the easier it is to deal with life's craziness. When I allow myself to get too caught up in the craziness, & my relationship with God gets put on the side burner, then everything boils over & I break down. I have had to learn that God's plan & mine aren't always the same, but His plan always turns out better than mine would have. I have also taken great comfort & advice in this passage from the Bible Dictionary about prayer "As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are his children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part (Matt. 7:7–11). Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship. Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work, and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings."
ReplyDeleteGood luck rolling with things. Love you!
I know this is super delayed but I reread this today, and really appreciate your comments on my blog. You always have the best things to say, great advice. Love you too!
DeleteA little delayed, but worth the wait!
ReplyDelete"So?!" JK... it's been 6 months and I still don't have a comeback.