Monday, January 07, 2008

Anatomy of a Bowl Trip – Postlude

Thursday, January 3, 2008
Due to lack of vacation time available to me I had to be back at work on this day in spite of the harrowing three days prior and not getting to bed until 1:00 a.m. the night before. The alarm rang at 6:00. It rang again at 6:09, and every nine minutes thereafter for an hour. I finally got up at 7:30 and made quick work of showering and dressing and arrived at work only 15 minutes late. Fortunately, they’re not sticklers about things like that at work. I was present at work for the whole day but can’t honestly say much work was accomplished. I was exhausted. There was a home game for the Illini basketball team that night, but I bowed out of going choosing instead to get to bed early.

What I Learned From This Trip
  • I am capable of dealing with stressful situations.
  • I am capable of driving safely in snowy icy conditions.
  • I am capable of speaking to customer service people in effective ways to handle problems.
  • I am capable of being in charge.
  • I am capable of persevering.
  • I am capable of allowing others to help me when I need help.
  • I AM CAPABLE.

Who knew? I kind of sat back at one point late in the trip and took stock and realized that overall I handled things very well. I am proud of myself for that. I did what needed to be done, never gave up, and things turned out okay even if they didn’t turn out as originally planned. I also realized it is not a failure on my part that I did not handle every aspect of the situation. I didn’t have to do so. There were two adults involved, and I didn’t have to do it all. It was alright to allow W to handle certain aspects of the situation. I realized that I feel like a failure every time I ask him to make a phone call, but even without the phone phobia there is no reason I would have to make every phone call. I made some. He made some. Nothing wrong with that. When I really look at it I realize that I am no less capable because I don’t do it all. I don’t have to do it all to be capable. What a revelation.

Truly I believe every experience in life is there to teach us something. Sometimes we’re just lucky enough to actually learn the lesson.

4 comments:

stinkypaw said...

Of course you're capable. It's all about what we want to do or choose to relinquish to others that makes us "appear" weak or incapable. It's almost as if you just realised that you're not perfect and can't do everything - trust me, I'm not saying that you should be either, far from it! It's about being there to learn but also about wanting to learn and see those things... Always about choices!

BTW, I tagged you do to a little meme, so, if you have a chance, drop by to see what it's all about.

Summer said...

Yes, it definatly sounds worth the trip. I'm glad you discovered these things about yourself. Sometimes it takes being thrown into the situation to really find it out. Good for you.

Serenity said...

I'm glad you got something so valuable out of the whole experience; i still need a nap just from reading about it all though... just sounds exhausting! I'm SO glad you got a chance to go. Good on ya. :)

Trueself said...

SP - I will get around to your meme soon, hopefully in the next few days. It looks interesting -- and like it will take me a little thought.

Summer - Yes, I was proud of myself that I didn't just give up and go home, something I considered several times.

Serenity - Well, I needed a nap too and took a really long one on Saturday afternoon. It felt really good to catch up on some much needed sleep.