Hi Friend,
I know I mentioned my road trip last week because I wrote from Flagstaff, but the Adele show and experience is worth writing about. She.Was.Fabulous and hilarious. It truly felt like a “Vegas Show.” She was engaging, really funny, open and conversational. Of course, her voice is the star of the show. The stage and production were world class as well. She doesn’t “perform” so much as simply chat and sing.
What was even more fun was that my son flew in from Chicago to meet up with us, and Lainey’s good friend from Los Angeles came over. Neither of my kids had been to Vegas before. After the show, the three of them ran the streets till 3am. In typical Hawks fashion, they conquered the city and declared they didn’t need to ever return. I dropped Lincoln and Talula off at the airport at 5:30am and got on the road.
Lainey and I decided for the return trip, we would just drive the 16 hours straight through. She of course planned on sleeping, which she did. I listened to music and enjoyed the scenery. Speaking of scenery, we stopped to look at the Hoover Dam on the way into town. It’s AMAZING! The human will and imagination to erect that massive wall in that setting is completely unbelievable. It’s an engineering wonder.
It’s wild how our country has loads of wide open land available between Amarillo and Vegas. It’s mostly just I-40 with Albuquerque and Flagstaff in between. If you ever want to get “off the grid” New Mexico and Arizona are ripe for that.
The Detour
Lainey and I were about 12 hours into our trip, when Google Maps rerouted me off the interstate. There was apparently a wreck up ahead that would delay me for 2 hours. Semi’s were already backed up as I inched to the exit. Following Google, I went north. When we got to the road, two sheriff trucks were parked in front of it. They said it wasn’t a good road and I couldn’t go that way. They told me how to go south and around.
I headed back south seeing the interstate backed up much further. Unfortunately, someone crashed their car on the detour and caused us to have to sit on a back road in the middle of nowhere for almost an hour. No detour for the detour. Uggggh!
Have you ever had something not go as planned and when you thought you had a solution, it actually became worse? Have you ever gotten excited about overcoming an obstacle only to discover there is another one right on the other side of it?
Patience
Almost every day my life feels like one big test of patience. It’s because I’m wired for movement, motion and forward progress. Sitting still feels like going in reverse. It’s not. You probably feel similarly. No one naturally loves waiting, though we can find meaning and joy in it. We have to battle our thoughts to get there.
One thing that’s settled me is the macro-view of life. The Great Maybe… Maybe this delay saved me from something worse? Maybe this is setting me up for something I couldn’t have been otherwise? Maybe this negative will produce something positive?
It feels like a paradox, but the best way to live macro is to live micro. Today is the only day we have. We can choose intentionally not to give the delay emotional space. It’s actually preservation, preparation and positioning. Read that again. Who doesn’t want to be preserved, prepared and positioned? Patience today enables that!
Instigating Ideas
1. Find more ways to be with your kids.
2. Identify where you’re spending negative emotions unnecessarily on delays.
3. Muster gratitude in the waiting.
You might think with this approach; “everything happens in the time it’s supposed to.” However, that is absolutely not true! You and I are engaged participants and can speed up or slow down our opportunities. Patience isn’t passively sitting around but actively involved in the waiting process. Waiting is an action!
Patience is Practiced Peace
Sitting on that detour, I didn’t chat with Lainey. It took all my energy and focus to remain settled. Impatience generates discontentment. It’s the antithesis of gratitude. It distances us from peace, joy, love, contentment and goodness. I’m by no means patient. However, I’m afforded the chance so frequently, I’m determined to extract everything I can from it while staying emotionally stable, settled and strong.
I hope this week when offered the chance to exert patience you recognize the preservation, preparation and positioning that is happening for you! I dare you to offer gratefulness for the thing or person who is slowing you down!