Today has been a challenging day. And it’s only 11:30 in the morning.
I apologize in advance for boring you with my life’s unexciting details. Let me begin by stating that I recently got a Franklin Covey planner system to help organize my life. (There was a huge internal debate over whether to go with a paper planner or a PDA, but that’s a subject for another time.) The system has an element called “The Weekly Compass” in which you write down your roles (i.e. husband, coach, dad, account manager, etc.) Then you are supposed to write in something that you are going to do to improve yourself in each of those areas. This week, under “Leader”, I wrote, “stay stable in a busy week.”
It didn’t take long for God to give me an opportunity to work on that one.
I knew in advance that it would be a busy week, but things had been going fairly smoothly up until last night. That’s when I found out that kimandjason.com e-mail was seriously messed up. I interacted with tech support a few times, trying to figure out what went wrong. I went to bed last night hoping to find a nice tidy reply that the problem had been fixed and all was right in the world. No such luck. Apparently, my web host reset something on the server, causing everything to become fouled up. Suddenly, every single person with a kimandjason.com e-mail account was not getting their e-mail. Worse yet, it was all being forwarded to one single account, on a different server. Great.
Today was already slated to be the busiest day of the week, and now I had an unexpected major emergency on my hands. I know how much people depend on e-mail (I know how much I depend on e-mail), so I was frantic to find a solution. More e-mails back and forth with tech support. Each response brought with it an unacceptable solution; and each one seemed to make matters worse.
I had a 9:30 dentist appointment scheduled, to get a crown and a filling. As if I didn’t have enough anxiety going on, I had the distinct privilege of going to get my mouth drilled full of holes. I was so frustrated. I wasn’t sure if I should break something or cry. I settled on just gritting my teeth (which will probably result in more dental work).
Lying in the dentist’s chair gave me an opportunity to relax. (I know, ironic, isn’t it?) In my never-ending quest for self-improvement, I always compare my schedule and my problems with that of the President. No matter who is in office, I can’t imagine a person with more pressing issues and a more jam-packed schedule. When I copare my life with his, that usually helps me to realize that my life isn’t as busy as my current tragedy makes it seem.
And so as the dentist drilled away, I relaxed a bit, realizing that I had done nothing to cause this technological emergency, and I was doing everything I possibly could to solve it. It wasn’t as serious as Al-Qaeda, and it would certainly be forgotten five years from now. Any frantic action on my part was more likely to mess things up further than make it any better. I was mad at myself for not acting more calm and stable. I was mad at myself for being so mad. If I can’t handle something like this, how will I handle a REAL crisis?
I guess at least my response time is better. In the past, I would have been in a sulk all day long, if not longer. So here I am back in the office, with a numb mouth and a problem that has yet to be solved. But I feel a little more peaceful about things. I will continue working calmly with tech support, trying to find a solution and trusting that God will help me to pass this test.
This morning’s appointment with drills and novocain helped me to get some perspective, and realize (yet again) that even though I can’t always control my circumstances, I can control my attitude, which is a good lesson for anyone. I was able to see that things will work themselves out in due course. Who knew a dentist’s chair could serve such a purpose?