Posted in A Moment in My Life

“Not Set in Stone”

A Moment in My Life – Monday, December 7, 2020

Have you ever attempted to take a day off only to end up doing everything else but? For months I’ve been trying to take one full day off from my routines, commitments, and the mundane tasks that fill my days. This past Saturday was a great candidate since it was the first Saturday in months when I didn’t have either a Zoom meeting, a webinar scheduled, or any phone dates. 

I was elated because it was the perfect day to take off until Saturday morning rolled in. I woke up with a few things that I needed to do before I could begin my day off. One of those items was time-sensitive. I had to complete a letter and get it into the mail. With my postman, you never know when he’d arrive, but if I got that letter into my mailbox before he came, that would save me a trip to the USPS.

When San Mateo County joined most of California back into the Purple Tier, who knows if more businesses might have to close again. I checked with my hairstylist to see if she was open, and she got back to me that morning, saying she could see me at 10:40. Of course, I grabbed the appointment. Good thing I did. She said she might have to close any day now.

Come rain or shine or day off or vacation, and I must write my three Morning Pages. Before I finished, I got a phone call from my sister’s sister-in-law, who never called me before. We ended up chatting for a short while. That call pushed out my morning schedule even further.

I had one more must-do task that I planned to take care of after lunch. I eventually forgot about it because as I was heating my lunch, I got another unexpected phone call from another person who doesn’t usually call me. I suggested we talk the next day, but he needed to talk right away. We talked a while, and the content of that call shook me up a bit, causing me to ponder the conversation for a time. 

It could have been worse, so I can’t complain. I ended up taking a truncated day off, and as it turned out, I took care of many things instead of pushing them off to the next day had I not taken care of them. Knowing me, the next day would be a busy one anyway, and it was. 

I enjoyed the shortened day off immensely. I finally got to binge-watch the Ms. Fisher Modern Murder Mystery DVDs that I borrowed from the library over a month ago. It was now, or neither, as my auto-renewal ran out. It was a delightful escape from reality and made up for the lessened time off. 

What I learned from this experience was that nothing is black or white. I tend to be rigid with an all-or-none mentality, which doesn’t serve me well. All it does is give me stress and disappointment when my plans get foiled. Instead, I realized that there is a time and a place for everything. Yes, vacay is essential for our mind, body, soul, and spirit, and we should not take it lightly. People are important, too, and whenever possible, they should come first. Sometimes things happen. People are always busy, and that may coincide with my plans, and all I can do is make the best of the situation and keep in mind that plans are not set in stone.

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