Out of control
There is an almost universal consensus among those who know me that I am a control freak. Just this morning as I was handling vendor registration for our monthly Market Day event on the town green, I was trying to solve problems that were, frankly, none of my business and out of my control. I've even been known to try to reorganize the way the toll booths work getting onto my island in Florida. Trust me, the county was not especially interested in my solutions.
Periodically I swear to one friend or another that I am going to operate under the philosophy of what will be will be or que sera sera. Sadly, I seem incapable of pulling this off and my vows to try are usually met by hysterical laughter.
This week, in preparation for Market Day, I was forced to face the fact that I cannot control Mother Nature no matter how hard I try. That usually leads me to contingency plans. A LOT of contingency plans. With a weekend of threatened storms, there was the one in which the committee in charge of the event would simply cancel and call all the vendors a day ahead of time. There was the one which included me being there at 7 a.m., rain or shine, no matter whether anyone actually showed up or not. There was the one in which I called the person who hires our band by 8 a.m. to tell him whether or not the band should make the trek down here . . . or not.
So, this morning at 6:15, as I was driving to breakfast in the rain, I decided we'd end up cancelling. At 7 a.m. as I arrived at the green, people were already setting up. At 7:45, the sun was shining, so I called and told the band to come ahead. By 8:15, the clouds overhead were thick and gray and we had only 10 of our scheduled vendors. At 10:30, I came back home to recover from the trauma of not knowing what to expect from one minute to the next.
If anyone has a clue how I can learn to let go and let God, as is sometimes said, please tell me. I used to think patience was the trait I sorely needed. Now I think it's flexibility, the ability to go with the flow, to take whatever comes my way. I'm going to do it. I swear.
Feel free to laugh now.
Sherryl Woods
Periodically I swear to one friend or another that I am going to operate under the philosophy of what will be will be or que sera sera. Sadly, I seem incapable of pulling this off and my vows to try are usually met by hysterical laughter.
This week, in preparation for Market Day, I was forced to face the fact that I cannot control Mother Nature no matter how hard I try. That usually leads me to contingency plans. A LOT of contingency plans. With a weekend of threatened storms, there was the one in which the committee in charge of the event would simply cancel and call all the vendors a day ahead of time. There was the one which included me being there at 7 a.m., rain or shine, no matter whether anyone actually showed up or not. There was the one in which I called the person who hires our band by 8 a.m. to tell him whether or not the band should make the trek down here . . . or not.
So, this morning at 6:15, as I was driving to breakfast in the rain, I decided we'd end up cancelling. At 7 a.m. as I arrived at the green, people were already setting up. At 7:45, the sun was shining, so I called and told the band to come ahead. By 8:15, the clouds overhead were thick and gray and we had only 10 of our scheduled vendors. At 10:30, I came back home to recover from the trauma of not knowing what to expect from one minute to the next.
If anyone has a clue how I can learn to let go and let God, as is sometimes said, please tell me. I used to think patience was the trait I sorely needed. Now I think it's flexibility, the ability to go with the flow, to take whatever comes my way. I'm going to do it. I swear.
Feel free to laugh now.
Sherryl Woods
Labels: Flexibility
posted by Just Between Friends at
7:42 AM
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