I think we often forget that how we CHOOSE to feel is a CHOICE.
Last Thursday after competing at the master’s games in Dunedin, we were all on a high from the day’s performances. We stopped at the traffic lights less than 100 meters from our hotel and our car started to smell like something was burning. My husband then realised he had no clutch. Not able to move the vehicle, we flicked on the hazard lights and made a plan for me to steer and my husband to push through the lights and to the left-hand side of the road where there was a space to park. Suddenly, a lovely man appeared from Liquorland to help us push the car and the emergency subsided and we were safely parked. We rang the AA, and I walked the dog and our daughter back to our motel with bags full of sporting equipment.
I wasn’t going to let this minor incident which could appear like a mountain to many, ruin our day. Instead, I CHOSE gratitude.
Gratitude for where we broke down, only walking distance from our motel. Gratitude for it happening when I wasn’t on my own. Gratitude to the hotel owners for pointing me in the right direction of the mechanic. Gratitude for our safety and this not happening on our drive home and being stuck in the middle of nowhere. Gratitude for the kindness from strangers and friends offering us lifts.
It could have been so easy to play the victim in this circumstance, but all that does is disempower you. I accepted the clutch was gone and that our car would be here for at least a week. There’s nothing else I can do about that, but what I can do is CHOOSE my mood and focus on what I can control. Within minutes of the mechanic looking at the car, for which again we are grateful, we found a transfer car back to Queenstown, a lift from a friend to the airport to pick it up, and the rest we dealt with as it happened. No drama lama.
You have the power to CHOOSE how you want to feel and how you perceive a situation. Your CHOICE impacts not only you but those around you. How you feel affects your physiology and therefore your overall health. I know how I want to feel and if someone or something pulls me away from that feeling, I start questioning why.
We are all more powerful than we are led to believe when it comes to managing our emotions. It takes practice and gratitude for what we have and identifying the things you can and can’t control. The more you practice, the easier it gets.