The more things change, the more they change

My theme for this month, particularly this week, is that the more things change, the more they change!

A week ago, I thought I would be headed toward Arkansas and Alabama with my husband on Monday, a weeklong trip I was looking forward to, even though it would require me to miss several opportunities in Oklahoma and Texas.

By Friday, the logistics of some of my plans for going with my husband were falling apart, so I decided to stay home. I looked forward to being able to go to the choir practice I would have missed in Texas. Today, I was eager to attend a luncheon, a caroling event at a nursing home and the Christmas party of the women's group I'm part of at my church in Norman.

Getting back to Norman about 10 last night after a long choir rehearsal in Gainesville, I knew it would be a quick turnaround for me to be ready for the 11:30 a.m. luncheon, then the caroling at 4:30 and the party at 6. I had done little to no prep for any of these.

I slept well, but when I woke up to the sound of my alarm, I let distractions keep me in bed surfing on my phone for an hour. That was certainly not how I needed to start the day, or so it seemed.

I had committed to do the best I could in preparing for each event. I knew I didn't have to be on time for the first one. My ideas were coming together better than usual for a hostess gift as well as a food to take to share.

Meanwhile, I noticed someone had left a message on my home phone. When I checked it, I learned the evening party had been postponed because of the weather. Although I was sad about this -- because the new time is Sunday, when I will be in Texas singing with the church choir there -- I knew it was out of my control. And I knew I had plenty of other things I could spend my afternoon and evening doing.

By this time, I was especially grateful I had not decided to forgo the luncheon because of the earlier distractions and busy schedule. I thoroughly enjoyed the friendships shared at the luncheon.

The afternoon caroling also was postponed, although the new time for it should work out for me.

My afternoon and evening ended up being filled with needed chores including clothes washing, vacuuming and other housework.

It's not how I expected my day to go. I can see many reasons why it was a good way for it to turn out.

One of the best reasons to be grateful today is that neither the change that kept me from traveling with my husband nor the changes that kept me from attending the church events today made me feel angry or resentful. I hope I'm FINALLY growing out of that childish response to changes that seem to keep me from doing what I thought I wanted to do. It's so much better to be able to roll with changes.