Blog #701: Avoiding the Termites

Sometimes…

We can do our absolute best…
And then we gotta’ just let our best rest.

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Here’s the scoop.

This week…

My refrigerator stopped working.

I was on top of it fast and ordered a new refrigerator within a couple of hours of it going down. Delivery was scheduled to be in 48 hours.

A long wait for delivery…

So I bought dry ice, added it to both sides (freezer and fridge)…and crossed my fingers the food would survive.

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For my delivery day…

I was given an initial twelve-hour window: 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

I live in a building with a loading dock… and that dock closes at 5:00. I saw the “Uh, oh!” coming before the “Uh, oh!” arrived.

So…

36 hours before the final 4-hour delivery window was to be determined, I called

customer service to let them know that delivery would be impossible from 5:00 to 8:00. The rep transferred me to another rep. And that rep did the same.

Starting to see the inevitable cliff coming…

I called the 3rd-party delivery service and let them know about the time issue. Still, I was getting no guarantee that the pre-5:00 deadline could be met.

And, of course…

It wasn’t.

Instead, I received a happy-sounding text. “Good news! Your order will be arriving tomorrow between 4:00 and 8:00.”

That was so far from “Good news!”

Over the cliff we were going.

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I’ve learned…

To do my best in crossing “t’s” and dotting “i’s” in planning things in order to prevent negative surprises and head off potential problems. Sometimes, however, stuff still happens that is the opposite of what we’ve planned for.

Like what was happening now.

It’s almost hilarious.

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Earlier in life…

My voice in talking to customer service reps regarding screw-ups was not as calm as my voice is today. I’m learning to moderate my anger when things go haywire… especially things that did NOT have to go haywire.

At this moment, I’m telling myself…

“I did my best; let my best…rest.”

And keep moving forward.

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It is our choice.

We can let the bad stuff that goes wrong — the stuff we can’t control — eat at us like termites eating wood, or we can learn to flow with life when things happen beyond our effort and control.

The truth is…

We add zero value to the world if we yell mean words at a customer service rep.

None.

It does them no good.
It does us no good.

In situations that go off the rails and get goofy, we can either…

Flow with the drama.
Or become the trauma.

I choose to flow.

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As I write this now…

My continuing efforts to change the delivery time have been unsuccessful. I have spoken with at least seven different service people. I think with each call and new person, I’m actually sounding calmer on the phone.

I’m just doing my best to keep working through the challenge.

Adjust.
And flow.

Adjust.
And flow.

Adjust.
And flow.

Or get eaten by the termites.

The choice is really not that hard.

Is it?

S.

(Audio version)