by Heather C.

I was having a tough time coming up with a topic to write about this month and asked for help via Facebook….oh, the uses of Facebook! Thank you for all your suggestions, but there was one that struck me, “it’s a black fly in your chardonnay.” So here it goes…

I interpret this statement to reflect a favorite saying of mine, “it freaking figures.” What I mean by that is just when you think something positive is happening, something else happens to mess it all up- a mild version of Murphy’s Law, if you will. Picture yourself after a long day at work finally relaxing with a chilled glass of your favorite chardonnay, or any other lightly colored beverage, it has to be lightly colored so as to see the big ugly black fly land right in it! Ugh! So frustrating and it “freaking figures.” So, what do you do? How do you handle it? A few scenarios…

You could get all angry and let it ruin your evening. This is probably the most common reaction. Where does that get you? You’re finally relaxing and the weather is so nice that you get to spend an hour on your porch with your new patio furniture (I just got some new patio furniture at a steal that I'm super happy with). Are you really going to let this one, tiny fly ruin your “you” time? You could, but it hardly seems like the best use of your energy.
You could laugh and sigh about it, saying to yourself, "it freaking figures.” Accept that sh*t happens and realize that although this is an inconvenience to your perfectly planned evening, it’s just that, an inconvenience. There are worse things that could have happened….you could be the fly! Now, HE’S had a bad day!
Perhaps chardonnay is one of your least favorite drinks, but it’s all you had left in the fridge so that’s what you chose to drink. Look at this as an opportunity to go out and get a bottle of the wine you REALLY like, come home and start again. OR, it is the universe telling you that you shouldn’t be drinking wine today, so go get a glass of water. Either way, this time, you’ve learned your lesson and you’ll put a napkin over the top of your glass when not drinking it. Not only do you get what you really want, but you got smarter too! Thanks Mr. Fly!

I had my own person al black fly over the past couple of weeks. The chardonnay was exercise and the black fly was a sprained ankle- coincidently somewhat of the same color. I love working out and I love playing soccer. I sprained my ankle in a game a couple of weeks ago and I had to DECIDE how I was going to let that affect me. It’s a decision we all should make. Don’t just react- think it through and make a choice. I won’t lie, it sucked to not be able to do the things I love doing, but I decided to just deal with it as best I could and work around it. It’s frustrating, of course, but there is really no point in letting it ruin my days. That won't help me at all.

One of my favorite quotes, "Life is, for most of us, a continuous process of getting used to things we hadn't expected." It’s all about learning how to deal with things as they hit you. I've learned that rolling with the punches is a very valuable skill to have. If you let all the “freaking figures” moments affect you and your ability to enjoy life, you’ll surely lose in the end.