Pompous Pontificating and Flexibility

Saturday and Sunday, the week-end, was much more this…

than this…

I intended to take time off, to lie in that hammock, and rest, regenerate, relax, recharge. Friday, I was having the best of silly times laughing and carrying on during my night out with my buddy when a phone call at 8:39 p.m. changed everything. My realtor had someone who needs a place, in two weeks, four at most. He wanted to show the not-ready house on Sunday. I wanted to continue laughing so hard that bits of my Panera sandwich were flying across the booth. Arrgghhh….I didn’t want to think about cleaning, clearing, dusting, mopping, scrubbing, yard work, and laundry.

I agreed to show the house but warned the realtor it wouldn’t be ready. The prospect would have to hear about everything I plan to do in the next month, and imagine what the finished project will look like. I put my groaning to-do list in the back of my mind because it was still Friday night and I was still in hyper-giggle mode. I had until Saturday morning to dive into spending my week-end working nonstop.

Dive-in I did. I cleaned, I cleared, I scrubbed, I sorted, I did laundry, I moved and removed clutter. I took a few ibuprofen and crept into bed late Saturday night, thinking about how much I still needed to accomplish Sunday—after church. After church didn’t happen, because when I woke up it was too late to go to church. I couldn’t even publish my Sunday blog post, because its subject was church.

Worse, I felt guilty because last week I had focused on taking a Sabbath, on having a week-end. Rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation, were all off the table. I felt false, and said to myself: “There I go again, not walking my talk.”

Sometimes, however, I have to choose which talk I’m going to walk. I decided my weekend walk was about flexibility. Life doesn’t always happen as planned. Good intentions go awry. Often, it’s more relaxing to have the flexibility to go with what is presented to me, rather than have a tantrum because life isn’t going how I planned. More important, I also realized that the stress of paying for two houses has severely minimized my rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation for the last three years.

Next Sunday, we are having a cookout—after church. Three adults live here, so I will not have to spend much time cleaning beforehand—it’s already done. I look forward to eating good food, laughing, playing badminton, and taking some time in that hammock. If it doesn’t happen quite the way I plan, I’ll remember to be flexible.

After note: The woman who looked at the house really likes it. Practicing flexibility will be important in the next four weeks as we pack up everything and clear out of here.