There I was, facing a really busy October – traveling for seminars and keynote speeches, performing in a play, a birthday coming up. All my plans made and intact. Running my life as usual — or so I thought..
Shows you what I know. On the day I was to leave for my acting in MA and my traveling to Canada for the seminar, I ended up in a surgeon’s office with an emergency operation scheduled for a birthday present! What? Whaddya mean? What about all my plans? People are depending on me! I promised!
What a come-uppance. There I was, assuming that all I ever need to do was say yes or no to what came along and start making plans. And it really did work that way. That was my life. Why would I ever stop to realize that this process I so took for granted was pretty remarkable? After all, I did my daily TV talk show live for 11 years and never missed a show! I turned up and turned out for everything I set my mind to. I was in charge, right?
Well, I became acquainted with some forces that put me in my place in the humble corner pretty fast. My body had such different plans. Not only introducing me to its own forces like pain but also with immovable schedules that overruled mine…
Oh, and the operation? Painful as hell. Much slower recovery than I expected (I’ve always been a very fast healer but this one had a mind of it’s own..) But I’m well on my way to mending and moving on. Even going to act in a play in NY on the 12th and 14th of Nov. and looking forward to the family descending for Thanksgiving.
But still – I did have to cancel the keynoter and the seminar and the play and all the promises I’d made and that still has me in a state of shock. I was stopped dead in my tracks. And it made me think.
Have you ever thought about all we take for granted as we proceed through life’s dizzying pace? What we count on? What we never consider? Wow- I won’t forget this one for a while, I hope, but I am afraid that as soon as I’m all well, I’ll probably go back to forgetting this life-lesson, too. And most of all—not stopping and noticing and being grateful for all the good luck I’ve had. And knowing that I’m not nearly in charge as I thought I was…
Reading Between the Lines 