I am sitting in bed, looking out the bay window at the snow falling and wondering…. where did spring go?
Oh, it’s not that they didn’t warn us. They did. Every weather forecaster, every news announcement earlier in the week leading into yesterday came with the premonition of snow in the forecast. Lots of it.
And while I wish ‘they’ had been wrong, it isn’t so. Snow is falling outside my window and there’s nothing I can do about it. I’ve shovelled the walk, the driveway, the deck and path leading to the garage. I’ve filled the bird-feeder, taken Ellie, the wonder pooch, for a little walk (wearing my pjs under my coat, the pant legs tucked into my boots), let Marley, the great cat, out and in again. And now, I’ve come back to bed, nesting under my duvet, laptop on lap, Bach playing in the background to spend the morning revelling in a ‘no reason to go outside’ kind of day.
I can’t change the weather. I can choose how I weather its storms.
Which seems to be my lesson this week. To accept what is and create/find the value in every experience.
I learned this big time in a bit of an embarrassing way this week. An email intended to someone else accidentally got sent to the person directly connected to the incident I wrote about. I didn’t check the auto-fill name closely enough and it wasn’t until another recipient of the email (an intended one) asked me if I meant to send it to the other individual that I realized my mistake.
My first response was to swear.
Dang. It wasn’t that I said anything I didn’t want them to know about, they were the facts as I understood them. It was just, I know the other organization this person works for. What I wrote could be misconstrued and distorted. It could cause panic in their ranks. And that was not my intent.
By the time I realized my mistake, it was too late to recall my email. The recipient had already opened it.
I had to breathe. Accept what was and look at my options.
I called the other person. They weren’t in their office so I left a message apologizing and invited them to call me back. Later, I got an email clarifying the facts as they currently are.
And that’s where the value arose. If I hadn’t inadvertently sent my email, I would have continued to live with the belief that they had not brought their practices into alignment with ethical practices in this issue.
I forwarded their email to those who needed to know, and sent a reply thanking them for providing me the accurate information.
All’s well. Except of course, the niggles of “OMG! I can’t believe I did that!” which wants to hang out in my head and disrupt my peace of mind.
I can’t change what was. I can accept what is and make choices that help me weather this storm with my integrity in tact.
I made a mistake.
I took measures to address it.
I did my best.
And in the process I learned once again the imperative of being scrupulous with my integrity. Paying attention to the details, and finding value in all things.
It’s snowing today and I am choosing to feed my soul a gentle morning of lingering in bed as I embrace the beauty and joy of my life in all its many facets, no matter the weather inside and out.
Dare Boldly 
LG … an urban myth
that ‘recall an email feature’ does NOT work ..
once we hit send, it’s sent and there is no getting it back
there was a quote recently published , of the late Ralph Klein, after a protester landed a pie in his face … he licked his lips and said ‘taste’s pretty good’ …. as we all can, as we laugh, at our foibles.
I don’t know if it is karma .. but just moments before your post arrived, I sent you a note lamening how much I miss them
nice to see you posting … and to know that Ralph and I aren’t the only ones who get to taste that humble pie!
Cheers,
Mark
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Thanks Mark — humble pie is kinda sweet — and yes, I did have to laugh at the situation — eventually. 🙂
I saw your post right after I published my blog this morning — so — thank you!!!!!! 🙂
I’ll be here tomorrow morning. See you then.
PS — I appreciate you.
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Loved this>>>can’t change the weather. I can choose how I weather its storms.
SNOW? Wow! Gotta wash my car and waiting till it warms up enough to do it in bare feet. lol…
Crazy! I guess we are all in different corners of the world and yet it feels as if you are right next door. The more our hearts connect!
I sooo feel for ya!
There are things we learn in life… Don’t ask someone when they are due… if you are not sure…
And don’t push SEND until you look at the recipient you are sending it to!
I wish I could have sucked back in a text I sent a couple of years ago. I was complaining about a text my boss had sent to me and forwarded to a friend (not in the company who I was using to vent to) or so I thought~ with a bit of a sarcastic message attached. THAT feeling of getting caught bites! lol.
I have learned to be less passive aggressive and not say anything I wouldn’t say to that person’s face…whoops! 😉
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Yup — me too. fortunately, the lesson on not saying anything I wouldn’t say to their face stuck in this one and what I wrote was respectful — just not a message I intended for them to read. 🙂
And it is cool isn’t it — how it does feel like such a small connected world through our hearts resonating.
You go wash your car in bare feet and I’ll go shovel more snow in my boots! 🙂
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I’d help ya shovel if I could!
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So needed your message today. It’s title is a line in a poem I wrote about my intention to HEAL this year. I too love your line “I can’t change the weather. I can choose how I weather it’s storms”. I did my best, and am doing my best. Who I am is enough!
Hugs,
Colleen
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Hugs Colleen. Glad you are living your intention because yes — you are enough just as you are. you are magnificent!
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Oh, that could be so embarrassing, and yet it turned out very well… 😉
Here’s hoping Spring returns for you real soon, Louise. We are currently experiencing some beautiful and warm Autumn weather here in Australia – after a very long, very drawn out hot Summer… I’m so comfortable; I wish this for you too… 🙂
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Grinning over how light soaks through the messy packaging of life
and warms and grows us anyway….even because of….the blunders.
I love the way you tell stories; it makes me feel like I did as a child
when I’d lay my head down on the desk in class and listen to the teacher read.
Soothes my soul and quiets my mind.
Thank you for that…..and may you enjoy the big bloom when it happens:)
-Jennifer
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Thank you Jennifer for sharing your light
for being so bright
for always turning up
with flowers and joy
and making my world all sunny and bright.
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Louise, what a blessing you are with your writing, thanks for being you and for being human. Love the poetry
Andrea in Mexico
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I’ve done this!
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acceptance. and then moving forward from the place where you are after honestly looking at the situation. exactly what i needed to hear today. thank you!! peace & love.
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