Blog #589: Don’t Offer Them Tea

The “Unfortunate Unexpected.”

Out of nowhere…
It can hit us hard.

I know because I just felt its rude visit.

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In Ketchikan, Alaska…

I took a bite of a walnut, unaware that it was wearing TOO much shell.

The harsh bite rudely shattered 1/2 of a back tooth to the base of my gum.

I spit the tooth parts out and ran to the mirror hoping it was a much smaller deal than the quick pain and a desperate wandering tongue felt.

I didn’t get that lucky.

It was definitely an “Oh, sh*t!” moment.

______

When you’re traveling…

Far from home and “stuff” goes down, there’s always an ounce more stress.

I’ve lived it before.

A stolen wallet in Rio. A stolen passport (and all my money) in Barcelona. Ditched 78 miles away from my ship by my driver in the country of Jordan. Arrived by foot to my pre-paid bed in Portugal at 7:00 p.m. to discover the address was non-existent.

I’ve lived a list.

And now in Alaska…

I didn’t have a dentist on speed dial.

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The next morning…

Unable to find a dentist in my 8-hour Ketchikan window, I was “stuck” in my room, feeling bummed and eating aspirin for tooth pain. My brain was spinning in a pitiful pattern, and I knew I had to get myself UNstuck.

Hanging out solo and dwelling on one’s bummedness is never an answer to feeling better. I reached deeper, and with drill sergeant-like firmness, gave myself a little self-talk.

I pushed my butt outside.

I’ve discovered…

It’s in my feet walking I possess the power to change my brain’s running.

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And so, I walked.

I was near the bay’s water and at the edge of the mountain’s trees.

Despite the unparalleled Alaskan beauty surrounding me…

I caught myself being a “Foot Watcher.”

And, of course, that made sense.

My tooth was painfully nagging.

My spirit was massively dragging.

But when we become a “Foot Watcher”…

We fail to see anything else besides the movie already playing in our heads.

At THAT moment…

I was not seeing anything outside of me.

I told myself to “Look up!”

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Within 60 seconds of encouraging my eyes to leave the ground…

I caught sight of a tall tree with a massive nest sitting on the top.

It was an eagle’s nest.

I stopped.

I stood.

I stared.

If you’ve never seen one…

An eagle’s nest is ultra inspiring.

It’s unbelievably glamorous in size.

In seeing one then…

My “AWWW” for pitiful me turned into “AWE!” for the magical nest.

I continued walking.

Five minutes later…

I saw the inspiring nest’s owner.

My tooth issue shrunk in size.

I found my perspective.

I found my “Thank you.”

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I call it the “Unfortunate Unexpected.”

It’s the bad news we shockingly receive.

It’s the crappy moment that takes us by surprise.

It’s the huge disappointment we in no way saw coming.

Throughout life…

We get unwelcome visits from each.

And when one rudely decides to show up…

We decide where to focus our thoughts.

“Do I keep looking down?”

“Do I start looking up?”

The “Unfortunate Unexpected.”

It loses its power on our brain when we own our answer.

It did for me in Ketchikan, Alaska.

S.