Going with the Flow

Life is life and it sometimes throws us curve balls when we're expecting fast balls (can't believe I'm using a baseball metaphor). Growing up in a dysfunctional family where nothing was as you would expect and you never knew when you'd get slammed or when your dad would start screaming over something he'd never reacted to before, I had a tremendous need to control my environment, to try to fix everything and everyone around me, to maintain status quo.

It took years for me to understand that those things are simply not possible. The 12-step programs have a slogan they call the 3C's: I didn't cause it; I can't control it; and I can't cure it. The it refers to alcoholism, but it applies to many other things in life as well.

I had a girl-trip planned with one of my closest friends, one of my sisters of the heart. We were going to spend a few days in Seattle and then three days on Orcas Island in the San Juans. But her 88-year-old mom has pneumonia for the upteenth time and is just not recovering this time around. We've cancelled our trip, although I'm still planning to go to Portland, OR for 10 days. But I've told my friends there I might have to cancel if something happens or I might have to come home early.

It's a hard lesson to learn to go with the flow. It means not being emotionally attached. It means being flexible. It means being able to alter things in an instant. Life can change in a moment. Going with the flow allows me to make the spiritual, emotional and physical shifts required when that happens.
Blessings,
Karen