Sometimes, things happen that shift the course of action. Sometimes they are minor, and sometimes major, but in both cases, what we thought would happen isn’t what occurs.
Here’s a small example of that, a “small moment” if you will.
Yesterday, we spent a part of the day at the Bronx Zoo. They do a “Boo at the Zoo” celebration, where attendees dress up in costume and different exhibits are set up with a Halloween flair. The day was beautiful, so we were able see many of the animals that we wouldn’t be able to see at the end of October. After we went on the Bug Carousel, we came back outside to dark skies. It was supposed to rain in the late afternoon, but this looked like more than a passing shower.
We hustled back to the car, and got in right as the sky opened up. On the way back home, we figured we would stop at the Cheesecake Factory not far from the zoo. Yet, when we stepped out of the car after parking, we immediately stepped in a huge puddle that we hadn’t seen.
Everyone’s feet were wet. Everyone was upset. Everyone wanted to go home.
So we did.
While this is a minor example of a switch in course of action, we see this happening all the time. Alterations get made to our schedules simply because of on unanticipated result. Effects change because a given cause doesn’t occur, or occurs differently than we first thought. And sometimes, in our professional and personal lives, fires get sparked, that must be put out, altering the course of what might have been an otherwise “normal” day. And, we need to go with the flow in these instances, and allow ourselves the opportunity to welcome another way of doing things, and value the fact that sometimes we can’t predict the way situations will turn out.
We ended up bringing in food from our local Chinese restaurant, and we ate together around the dinner table. Certainly different than dinner out with a slice of cheesecake, but, at least in this case, the end result, a family dining together, was still happily achieved!