Seriously, it was 76 degrees. The sky was blue. The wind was light. I just left Expresso off Reynolds and Brownstone Avenue. I wanted to go to Russ’s car wash. They were closer. I have all-wheel drive though. Russ’s conveyor doesn’t work with all-wheel drive. So I went to Expresso. I don’t know why I gave you all those details.
I had just washed my car. That’s the point. I went to pick up something from home. Might’ve been to pick up a small human who looks just like me. I got back to my car not 10 minutes later. There it was. Right under the window trim.
In that moment, I had to choose a single reaction from no less than 100 possible reactions. Most of them involved strong language and things that would physically hurt my body. There was only one reaction from that batch that would make my life more enjoyable. I could just clean the window. But I probably picked from the 99.
I was trespassed upon. It wasn’t my fault. What could I have done differently?
I attended a meeting a week ago. It wasn’t a real meeting. It takes at least 2 people to call it a meeting. I was the only one who showed up. I found out later that the meeting was cancelled. The host forgot to add me to the email loop. I wasted an afternoon.
Things happen to you all the time. Good things. Bad things. Regrettable things. Scandalous things. Miraculous things. Nice things. Sometimes people aren’t paying attention and bump you. Sometimes people bump you on purpose. It’s not your fault. You don’t control it.
You have control over not very much. There’s nothing you can do to make your car start. You can turn the ignition and maybe pistons will fire. Maybe they won’t. Has this never happened to you? You can’t make the sun rise. You can pray for the sun. Someone else is praying for rain. What’s God to do?
Having little control over things is actually a very good thing. I’d hate to live in a world where you controlled everything. I mean, I like you and all, but.
What’s important is not that you have little control. You’ll be miserable if you try to control every thing. Life doesn’t work that way. And you’ll have few friends.
What you can control is how you react to the rain. You can control your response when the dry cleaners ruin your shirt. Sucky things happen. It rains on the rich and the poor.
You have control over very little. And this little just might be everything.