"Problems are only opportunities in workclothes." - Henry Kaiser
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Life happens...some days are more problematic than others and my tendency is to get frustrated and go to the "is this really worth it" or "I give up" place rather than taking a step back, breathing deeply, and reasoning "what's the worst that can happen?" Expectations get in the way!
I was so proud of myself (first mistake!) for finally getting my day together after having to be late to my morning catheter change appointment. My legs were so spastic that I had trouble getting dressed. I called the office to ask if I should keep the appointment and be late or reschedule. They were so kind to allow me to come in 30 minutes late.
What was the opportunity here? To try to estimate how much extra time I should allow in case one or more problems arise in preparation for leaving to go somewhere. Perhaps I should have allowed two hours of prep time instead of one and a half hours. I bathed and washed my hair the night before and had my clothes ready for the day, so I thought an hour and a half would have been plenty of time.
I applied the extra time formula in preparation for going to book club at 6:30PM. I bought chips and dip that I was supposed to bring and emptied the chips into serving containers. I intended to put the dips in three ready to serve containers only to discover that try as I might, even using my jar opening tool, I could not budge the lids from their jars. So, I packed up the jars and serving spoons, knowing that someone at the meeting would be able to open them. I was dressed and ready to go at 5PM. "WOW," I remember thinking, "that went well."
I had visions of arriving early and parking in the specially designated space at my friend's home. I programed my GPS and started last minute preparations for actual departure. I took Rebel, my dog, out to do his thing before restricting him to my room while I was gone for the evening. On the way back into the house, he decided to run around my wheelchair. I circled around as I usually do to keep his leash away from my chair as he changed directions.
Needless to say, his leash became hopelessly tangled in my wheelchair's rear wheel. I cut the cords to free my dog and started trying to undo the tangle to no avail and decided to cut the cord shorter and leave it for later. I wheeled into my room where I had left my pajamas on the floor when I left in a rush for my appointment in the morning and my wheels found an odoriferous pile of dog droppings hidden under my pajama bottoms. Now, my chair had a string AND dog poop tracking across the carpet as I retrieved a container of clorox wipes to clean up the mess.
I looked up at the clock and saw that it was now 6:15PM. So much for my success! At 6:30PM, starting time for the book club, I was hanging off of my exercise table trying to clean the dog poop from my wheels and calling the telephone number that my friend e-mailed to me to tell her that I would be late and discovered that the number was a wrong number. After cleaning as well as possible and coaxing my dog into my room, I began the challenge of getting into my SUV's new E-Z Lock device to lock down my wheelchair for the drive. "E-Z Lock" is a misnomer with a definite learning curve! After three attempts and a prayer, I heard the lovely click of success and was on my way!
Arrival time was almost 7:30PM. The chips and dip were late - everyone had already filled their plates. Fortunately, the discussion had been delayed by the departure of one of our members, who was on her way to the hospital for the birth of a grandchild. I asked my tablemates to let me know if they smelled anything and I would move downwind! The discussion that followed was an interesting glimpse for me, the only member who did not live in the South during the Civil Rights Movement, of what I had only seen on television and read about in newspapers. It was worth the struggle to get there.
Again, the kindness of the members of my group softened my frustration and "why even try" attitude. Lesson learned? Amazement and appreciation of the goodness of people and their tolerance of imperfection. Perhaps I should extend the same to myself...
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Life happens...some days are more problematic than others and my tendency is to get frustrated and go to the "is this really worth it" or "I give up" place rather than taking a step back, breathing deeply, and reasoning "what's the worst that can happen?" Expectations get in the way!
I was so proud of myself (first mistake!) for finally getting my day together after having to be late to my morning catheter change appointment. My legs were so spastic that I had trouble getting dressed. I called the office to ask if I should keep the appointment and be late or reschedule. They were so kind to allow me to come in 30 minutes late.
What was the opportunity here? To try to estimate how much extra time I should allow in case one or more problems arise in preparation for leaving to go somewhere. Perhaps I should have allowed two hours of prep time instead of one and a half hours. I bathed and washed my hair the night before and had my clothes ready for the day, so I thought an hour and a half would have been plenty of time.
I applied the extra time formula in preparation for going to book club at 6:30PM. I bought chips and dip that I was supposed to bring and emptied the chips into serving containers. I intended to put the dips in three ready to serve containers only to discover that try as I might, even using my jar opening tool, I could not budge the lids from their jars. So, I packed up the jars and serving spoons, knowing that someone at the meeting would be able to open them. I was dressed and ready to go at 5PM. "WOW," I remember thinking, "that went well."
I had visions of arriving early and parking in the specially designated space at my friend's home. I programed my GPS and started last minute preparations for actual departure. I took Rebel, my dog, out to do his thing before restricting him to my room while I was gone for the evening. On the way back into the house, he decided to run around my wheelchair. I circled around as I usually do to keep his leash away from my chair as he changed directions.
Needless to say, his leash became hopelessly tangled in my wheelchair's rear wheel. I cut the cords to free my dog and started trying to undo the tangle to no avail and decided to cut the cord shorter and leave it for later. I wheeled into my room where I had left my pajamas on the floor when I left in a rush for my appointment in the morning and my wheels found an odoriferous pile of dog droppings hidden under my pajama bottoms. Now, my chair had a string AND dog poop tracking across the carpet as I retrieved a container of clorox wipes to clean up the mess.
I looked up at the clock and saw that it was now 6:15PM. So much for my success! At 6:30PM, starting time for the book club, I was hanging off of my exercise table trying to clean the dog poop from my wheels and calling the telephone number that my friend e-mailed to me to tell her that I would be late and discovered that the number was a wrong number. After cleaning as well as possible and coaxing my dog into my room, I began the challenge of getting into my SUV's new E-Z Lock device to lock down my wheelchair for the drive. "E-Z Lock" is a misnomer with a definite learning curve! After three attempts and a prayer, I heard the lovely click of success and was on my way!
Arrival time was almost 7:30PM. The chips and dip were late - everyone had already filled their plates. Fortunately, the discussion had been delayed by the departure of one of our members, who was on her way to the hospital for the birth of a grandchild. I asked my tablemates to let me know if they smelled anything and I would move downwind! The discussion that followed was an interesting glimpse for me, the only member who did not live in the South during the Civil Rights Movement, of what I had only seen on television and read about in newspapers. It was worth the struggle to get there.
Again, the kindness of the members of my group softened my frustration and "why even try" attitude. Lesson learned? Amazement and appreciation of the goodness of people and their tolerance of imperfection. Perhaps I should extend the same to myself...
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