When things don’t go according to plan
This weekend, we got more ice than we were forecasted to get. We lost power for roughly 30 hours. It got down to 40F in our house, and you could see your breath before the power came back on.
There are so many things right now that are not going according to plan in our world. Ignoring them, tuning out from them, does not make it go away or make it better.
Instead, the only path forward that brings any peace is acceptance. When I first started in a 12-step program in 2019, I thought acceptance was a flippant response to the world. “Just accept it and move on.” That is how I interpreted “acceptance.” To say I was unenthusiastic about this word, this movement, is an understatement.
But acceptance doesn’t mean “just take it.” It means coming to terms with the truth of the situation, the full truth, in all of its ugly and all of its beautiful. Then, from that place, choosing what you do about it.
The choice is then grounded in what is, not trying to make what is not exist.
I’m not saying I like this. And. It is - ultimately - an easier way to live.
And that’s what I have on this cold, icy Tuesday where I am grateful to have heat while 100,000 of my neighbors still don’t.
What I’m Paying Attention to Lately
PS: My brother lives in Minneapolis with my sister-in-law and nephew, and a lot of my attention has been directed there in the last month.
