Two years ago, after a certain difficult and overloaded semester in college which managed to teach me more life lessons in 3 months than the 21 years that preceded, I told myself that I would not let myself be carried away by the overwhelming speed of the fast paced lives we live. I'd told myself that irrespective of the deadlines and meetings and paperwork and the hundreds of other things on my checklist, I would always find time to sit back, take a deep breath, not worry too much, deal with situations calmly and just appreciate life for what it is - a constellation of blessings! However, forgetfulness and the sheer amount of work it takes for someone to drastically change their outlook towards life, made sure that I never quite reached the goal I set for myself. Then came that highly eventful Thanksgiving break.
Thanksgiving happens to be one of my favorite weekends of the year. I like telling myself that I enjoy the holiday because it is associated with spending time with family and being grateful. But I know very well that it is because of black Friday sales and the fact that Thanksgiving break indicates that December is right around the corner, and December just means "a month of too many days off". So last year, on the day before Thanksgiving, I had set out to work early in the morning. I thought the holiday crowd would either have left the day before or that they would get on the road later that day. I'd assumed that the roads would be free that morning. I'd be at work by 8, finish off everything by 2 and leave before holiday travelers hit the road, thus outsmarting the traffic forces that made life hard for me everyday. Win-win! I was so proud of myself. Two hours later, I found myself stuck in the worst traffic jam I'd ever encountered in my last 2.5 years of driving, taking pictures using every Snapchat filter available that day, trying to smile despite the frustration that was building up. As I waited "patiently" for the traffic to disperse, the upcoming holidays still managing to keep my mood cheerful, I'd forgotten to check the car's fuel levels. I'd made calls to home and work, letting everyone know my status and then sang along to the songs playing on the radio.
The traffic cleared in a while and I was on my way, about 10 minutes away from office when I happened to notice that the fuel levels showed 0 miles remaining. That was my cue to panic and pray that I had enough fuel to reach office and I could refuel the car afterwards. But that was not meant to be and the car started shuddering weirdly in a couple of minutes. So I parked on the shoulder, along the highway, called my insurance company and asked them to send someone with a few gallons of fuel. They took about half an hour to set up the process and told me I'd have to wait 30 minutes before their guy arrives with the fuel. So I waited, on the side of a busy highway that I've never driven slowly on. The fuel guy took an entire hour. I waited there while all the cars sped by on the road. My only choice was to deal with the situation calmly. I was waiting inside a car on the side of a busy highway and panicking in that situation was not an option at all. Since there was nothing else that I could do, the silence and stillness of the situation made me realize the metaphorical implication of that situation.
The highway I parked along, happened to be my favorite stretch of my daily commute. The direction I drove along was against traffic and hence the drive had always been smooth and quick. That day, as I waited there for well over an hour, I saw people that were speeding by, on their way to work or to run an errand or to visit family for the holidays or for last minute shopping. As I watched all this happen, I realized that I was in such a hurry to get to work that morning but in spite of all that planning, God had His own plans and had meant for me to really just stop for a moment and breathe. While I waited, I found myself actually noticing the words to the songs that played on the radio, watching the tiny movements that the tree branches made in the soft breeze blowing that day, hearing the strong gush of wind as the cars sped by, observing the way the bright sunlight reflected off of the metallic panels in the building nearby; and all the other little things that get lost in the rush of the day. In spite of how inconvenient that morning had turned out to be, I found myself really enjoying that break - from work, chores and pretty much every distraction. At the end of the day when I got home and found the entire family worried about how my morning turned out, I looked back at the day and smiled at how relaxing that one hour was.
It was on that day that I realized how rewarding it is to take a break from our daily rush and worries and panic attacks. That morning managed to accomplish what I had been trying to, for over a year. It helped me calm down, learn to manage situations without panicking and just appreciate the little things we often fail to notice. A wise (and unlike me, calm) person once told me, "Life is 10% what happens and 90% how you deal with whatever happens". It was that morning that really changed the way I dealt with things that came my way.
Thanksgiving happens to be one of my favorite weekends of the year. I like telling myself that I enjoy the holiday because it is associated with spending time with family and being grateful. But I know very well that it is because of black Friday sales and the fact that Thanksgiving break indicates that December is right around the corner, and December just means "a month of too many days off". So last year, on the day before Thanksgiving, I had set out to work early in the morning. I thought the holiday crowd would either have left the day before or that they would get on the road later that day. I'd assumed that the roads would be free that morning. I'd be at work by 8, finish off everything by 2 and leave before holiday travelers hit the road, thus outsmarting the traffic forces that made life hard for me everyday. Win-win! I was so proud of myself. Two hours later, I found myself stuck in the worst traffic jam I'd ever encountered in my last 2.5 years of driving, taking pictures using every Snapchat filter available that day, trying to smile despite the frustration that was building up. As I waited "patiently" for the traffic to disperse, the upcoming holidays still managing to keep my mood cheerful, I'd forgotten to check the car's fuel levels. I'd made calls to home and work, letting everyone know my status and then sang along to the songs playing on the radio.
The traffic cleared in a while and I was on my way, about 10 minutes away from office when I happened to notice that the fuel levels showed 0 miles remaining. That was my cue to panic and pray that I had enough fuel to reach office and I could refuel the car afterwards. But that was not meant to be and the car started shuddering weirdly in a couple of minutes. So I parked on the shoulder, along the highway, called my insurance company and asked them to send someone with a few gallons of fuel. They took about half an hour to set up the process and told me I'd have to wait 30 minutes before their guy arrives with the fuel. So I waited, on the side of a busy highway that I've never driven slowly on. The fuel guy took an entire hour. I waited there while all the cars sped by on the road. My only choice was to deal with the situation calmly. I was waiting inside a car on the side of a busy highway and panicking in that situation was not an option at all. Since there was nothing else that I could do, the silence and stillness of the situation made me realize the metaphorical implication of that situation.
The highway I parked along, happened to be my favorite stretch of my daily commute. The direction I drove along was against traffic and hence the drive had always been smooth and quick. That day, as I waited there for well over an hour, I saw people that were speeding by, on their way to work or to run an errand or to visit family for the holidays or for last minute shopping. As I watched all this happen, I realized that I was in such a hurry to get to work that morning but in spite of all that planning, God had His own plans and had meant for me to really just stop for a moment and breathe. While I waited, I found myself actually noticing the words to the songs that played on the radio, watching the tiny movements that the tree branches made in the soft breeze blowing that day, hearing the strong gush of wind as the cars sped by, observing the way the bright sunlight reflected off of the metallic panels in the building nearby; and all the other little things that get lost in the rush of the day. In spite of how inconvenient that morning had turned out to be, I found myself really enjoying that break - from work, chores and pretty much every distraction. At the end of the day when I got home and found the entire family worried about how my morning turned out, I looked back at the day and smiled at how relaxing that one hour was.
It was on that day that I realized how rewarding it is to take a break from our daily rush and worries and panic attacks. That morning managed to accomplish what I had been trying to, for over a year. It helped me calm down, learn to manage situations without panicking and just appreciate the little things we often fail to notice. A wise (and unlike me, calm) person once told me, "Life is 10% what happens and 90% how you deal with whatever happens". It was that morning that really changed the way I dealt with things that came my way.
