Don’t Get Frustrated
Don’t get frustrated – it is So easy to say and not so easy to do.
I had to talk myself out of being frustrated last weekend when what seemed like a “perfect” weekend….until!
We had the entire weekend planned out (maybe we were a little too organized)! *Did I just say that?
First on the agenda was to drop off the Harley at the dealership for its 5000 mile checkup. #done
Next, make the 60 mile trip to the University of Virginia football game. They played GaTech and won! #UVAScore
After the game we headed up to Wilmington, DE to spend the night with a friend.
We love visiting Mary. She has the coolest black lab named Pepper and two beautiful cats named Gizzy and Sochi. And, the best part is that she has a chili recipe that is amazing so we always look forward to getting a bowl of hot chili.
The next day we headed up to West New York, NJ, right across the river from New York City, to stay in an Air BnB for the weekend. Besides looking forward to a weekend away, we were so excited about participating in the New York City Veterans Day parade where our oldest granddaughter, Faith, was marching with her Young Marine Unit.
That is until…..
Until we unpacked the truck and realized that she had left her Young Marine uniform at home! WHAT?? Seriously??
All I could say is, “You are kidding me, right? How did this happen? Why? What? UGH!!!” I really wanted to cry!
My first response was to just turn around and go home. But, the parade was the main reason for us traveling to New York! , The parade was the reason for a 6 hour drive and over $24 in tolls!
Talk about frustrated! I really didn’t know what to say, what to do
or even how to act. After about 30 minutes of heavy and deep breathing, we sat down to talk about how this happened.
Who was at fault?
I have spent a lot of time with a school psychologist and after I thought about it I realized that I was partially at fault. I had taken the time to iron her uniform and I should have just rolled it up and put it in the backpack. I was too concerned about having it all perfect before we left and I should have let Faith take control of the situation, pack her own bag and not worried about how wrinkled the uniform was. Yet again, perfectionism is over-rated!
I should have let her fail…not me. I should have given her the responsibility instead of trying to take control of the situation myself. #parentfail #responsibility
After calming down I had to make the call to the Unit and let them know that Faith would not be able to walk in the parade. Without a uniform she just wouldn’t be able to participate. #rulesarerules
I could hear the frustration in their voices too. Again, #how #why #whatintheworld?
After a deep sigh, they said that they would call back.
While the adults talked about the situation, they came up with a solution that would still allow Faith to be in the parade and earn her ribbon.
Her role just changed to being the one in charge of handing the goodie bags to the other Young Marines in order to hand them out to people in the parade. This was a very important job – perfect for the person without the uniform!
Sometimes I have to remind myself that everything happens for a reason. We don’t know why…but it does happen for a reason.
Because I was able to remove my frustration and move forward, I was able to experience a wonderful thing between two 11 year old children.
The Young Marine program teaches children discipline, honor and integrity and the conversation between Faith and her fellow LCpl made my heart happy! He told Faith, “don’t worry about forgetting your uniform, you are one of us. You are a part of the unit!” I thought I would cry. He didn’t laugh, make fun of her or make her feel bad about the situation.
We took what could have been an entire day full of frustration and turned it into a very positive experience. We forgot all about the uniform, accepted that Faiths role in the unit would just be different from the other 12 children who walked in the parade. It would all be ok!
After the parade we visited Macy’s to see the window decorations, Times Square (just because) and Rockefeller Center to watch the ice skaters and see the Christmas tree (even though it isn’t decorated yet).
We created memories that were not revolved around frustration or anger.
We turned lemons into sweet, sweet lemonade and had a blast!
We have no regrets from the weekend and after we left the city we made a pit stop in southern New Jersey to see my parents for a few hours. It started to snow and I started to get nervous. Then I thought to myself, trust and know that it will all be ok! The snow stopped and we had a clear drive home.
I guess the morale of this story is getting frustrated doesn’t serve a purpose. There are certain situations that we just can’t change and being able to change our attitude will change the situation.
Worry doesn’t change anything. Anger wouldn’t change anything. A positive attitude changed everything.
Our clutter can cause the same type of frustration. Getting to the point where everything has a home can seem like a huge and daunting task because there can be many, many steps involved.
When you get frustrated I hope that you will take a step back and reevaluate the situation and decide that your time is worth more than the frustration. Keep your eyes forward and move on with the next thing that needs to be handled. I promise you that you won’t be sorry.
And if you need help moving forward just give us a call. We can help you find the words, solutions, focus and attitude to keep moving forward, remove clutter, eliminate the unwanted and unneeded and reclaim your life.
Make your home or business a #nofrustration zone. Get organized today.
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