What can you roll with?

What are you putting energy into resisting?

What might happen if you just roll with it?

I’m what you might call ‘highly strung’ (uggh).  

Me, earlier in life was a basket-case. Control-freak, stressed out, ready to blow up over stupid shit on a regular basis.

I really struggled to get through each day and eventually had some real challenges with depression.

Then my husband died.

If you ever need something to help you reconsider what’s important in life, death will do it.

Of course, the grief and growth since his death has been a long and winding 20-year journey.  But ultimately what has happened is this: I’ve learned to roll with things.

I’ve learned that if I want to cope with life, I have to release my death-grip on the reigns.

I have to roll with shit.

I have the most beautiful partner today.

While my carver boy gets a good deal of credit for that, cos he’s a good, good man, I also give myself credit for a bunch of things, and learning to roll with stuff is one of those things.

It means I don’t try to manage him or control how our life together works.

It means I’m accepting of the twists and turns.

It means I got more patient (and faaaaark, has that been a ride!).

Most people today consider me fairly chilled (although high-energy).

They’re surprised when I say how much of a stressed-out control freak I used to be.

So here’s the thing. Or the things.

There are some things we shouldn’t let go of – some things we do want to manage and influence.

Like the fact that my family needs to eat. I’m not going to just roll with them going hungry.

Or the fact that we need to be safe while we drive. I’m not going to just roll with breaking the law or risking our lives.

But the timing of that trip in the car? I can roll with when that happens. Who comes in the car and what they wear or what they bring with them? I can roll with that.

What we eat and when? I can roll with that. We can’t all sit down to a meal of meat and 3 veg at 6pm? I can roll with that. Someone wants to eat weetbix instead? Go for your life.

Trying to manage and control things is EXHAUSTING.

And it means that you’re setting yourself up for stress, disappointment, upset, and maybe anger and rage, if things don’t go the way you tried to make them go.

The odds of things not going to plan are HUGE.

So I wonder what you’re resisting right now?

What’s taking up your energy? What are you giving power to because you’re laser-focused on it happening a certain way?

Choose one small thing.

Now, what might it look like if you just rolled with it? What’s the worst that could happen? What might you gain? How much happier might you become? How much lighter might you feel?

Roll with it.

Cruise.

Float.

Let those swells bring you safely and gently onto a shore where the sun is shining and you can get some rest.