Seriously????

When life seems stacked against you

Photo courtesy of Jamie Street

There are times in life when things seem to stack up.

Things that aren't so desirable...or expected...or welcome.

Things that seem like

roadblocks

or

inconveniences

or

annoyances

or

delays

or

obstacles

in life's grand scheme.

Such things are rarely considered when planning one's day or year or life.

We often expect smooth sailing and easy roads along our way.

And when we encounter one or maybe two inconveniences within our day, we often dismiss it as annoying but quickly move on.

When, however, we find ourselves in the midst of obstacle after obstacle after inconvenience after inconvenience after delay after delay...well, then we often find ourselves in quite a state of frustration.

And within that state, the quality of thought diminishes and we find ourselves thinking inabsolutes leaving no room for nuance:

"Why can't things ever go smoothly?"

"If it's not one thing, it's always another!"

"Nothing is ever easy!"

And my personal favorite:

"What fresh new hell is this?"

A while back, I found myself in one of those dark poor-me kind of moments.

My thinking was spiraling downward, eagerly supported by evidence to justify such thinking...

until suddenly...

in my self-imposed darkness...

I saw the light (so to speak).

It came in the form of a simple phrase uttered by a woman who was being interviewed about a fire in her apartment complex. In describing her experience she stated flatly: 

"Ain't nobody got time for that!"

With that simple phrase, a fresh idea was born.

And so...later that day,

while driving along in the car with my youngest, we tested my idea.

Each of us took turns bellowing out something in our lives that appeared to be an obstacle...after which we yelled...

"Ain't nobody got time for that!"

By the end of our exhaustive list, we were laughing so hard that our mood had lifted to exhilaration.

Within this new state of mind...the illusionary power behind the obstacles had evaporated.

Life was no longer out to get us.

There was no grand plan to derail our day or year or life.

Life was just showing up as it did...no hard feelings necessary...

cause...frankly...

"Ain't nobody got time for that!"