Shifts Happen

Don’t tell anybody, but I got it all together. It lasted for a total of fifteen seconds, according to the timer I set. That breaks my previous record of five seconds which means I’m improving.

Getting it all together can be tough, especially when folks keep moving the middle. Keeping it altogether if you manage to get it there borders on the edge of delusion.

My “altogether” moment started with a challenge because who doesn’t need another challenge in their lives, right? I determined to launch a new branch of Peculiar Productions with a targeted focus.

Meet STUCK WRITER

That one leap kicked me out of stuck in my writing, in my home, in my yard, in my Spiritual health, and in my physical health. You could say it has made a difference.

I started tackling a little bit in each area without allowing the full goal to overwhelm me to the point of stopping. I have BIG DREAM goals, but those goals come to life one step at a time.

With each step, change began to occur. Focus cleared.

Snap! I had it all together.

And then I didn’t.

I got up and followed my mourning routine, a little slow in the giddy-up, but getting to where I needed to be.

A text buzzed on my phone “Due to the tornado warnings, school is being delayed two hours.”

First, I didn’t even know there were tornado warnings out there, which is weird for me. After being caught up in a swarm of tornadoes in 2011, I am typically (and pretty much acutely) hyper-weather-alert. Despite the storm I heard outside, I hadn’t even bothered turning on the news.

Second, my entire morning schedule revolves around dropping my son off at school.

“Great,” I announced while turning on my computer to see what was going on. It turned out the warning was not just a warning. A tornado had touched down less than five miles from my back yard.

I watched the news for a bit, just to be certain the storms I didn’t know were going on before weren’t still going on and also hadn’t brought friends along for the day.

I shuffled my morning applying the practice of focused flexibility.

“Son, how would you feel about going to yoga with me,” I tried to tempt my son with the offer. I figured we could go to town for yoga and then up to school. An opposite circle from normal, but it would still work.

A shriek of pure joy echoed from his room. No . . . wait . . . it was a cry of terror.

“Don’t worry. You can stay in the car.”

“Cool,” he replied. “I can use the church’s wi-fi from there.”

It’s good to find out your children have priorities.

I adjusted my morning schedule to meet with the new plans, flipped a few things around, and prepared to face the new (adjusted for tornado warnings) day.

The buzzing of my phone across the desk announced a new text message. “The power is out at the school, and the power company is unsure of when power will be restored. We are canceling school for the day.”

I laughed. I had to. Just when you think you have it all figured out, something happens to make you wonder if you have anything figured out.

In the end, despite the shifts, I got things done, just not in the order or in the fashion I had planned.

You have to be okay with the shifts because shifts happen all the time and all around you. A shift doesn’t mean you get distracted from your goal. It just means you make the adjustments necessary to handle the turn or bump ahead.

How to Become a Shift Handler

• Babysit – or better yet, have children. Nothing teaches you how to handle the shifts better than dealing with multiple children.
• Tell God your plan. Those times when we throw down the gauntlet and declare to God how we are going to do it, I wonder if He takes it as a personal challenge to remind us His way is the way!
• Just keep going. Momentum will be a powerful motivation. You may not be getting it done the way you expected (or planned), but when you are getting things done, it makes you want to get things done.

Today, the shifts continue to happen. I have determined to keep going anyway (even if that means investing two hours in the car office instead of doing what I wrote out in the Focus Folder).

Practice for the shifts that happen because shifts happen. You can get through. Just keep going!

Be blessed,