Today did not go as planned at all. It got severely interrupted when I got a card alert about a transaction (a rather large Taco Bell delivery order in Chicago) that got placed on my account, of which I did not place. I immediately opened the card app and locked the card but the $34.08 was already pending. That took me down an almost 2-hr path of trying to contact that Taco Bell location (with no success), changing passwords as fast as I could, trying to contact Taco Bell corporate (also with no success), contacting the card company, and you know the drill if you've ever experienced something like this.
So there I was having spent almost 2 hours of my day in a way that I just didn't expect to spend it - angry, frustrated, irritated, and all up in my head about all of it. Finally, when I got everything all sorted out sufficiently for the immediate need at hand, I attempted to finish getting ready, but man, was it ever hard not to want to keep ranting and whining about it. I was almost ready to head out, while still fuming, when my husband said ...
"They already stole your money. Don't let them steal your day."
I stopped. He was right. What could I really do other than what I was already doing to correct what happened, try to recover my money (if possible) and protect myself from anything else happening?
As I was leaving, it made me think about all the many times in my life when detrimental choices were made for me or I was forced to conform to something that went against my values and beliefs, when I was controlled, manipulated, lied to and gossiped about, misunderstood and judged. It's a very unsettling place to be when we experience any of this, and it's downright scary to feel like things are outside our control.
I began to think of all the people I know who have experienced similar painful life-altering situations. My empathy began to take over, and I was both angry and sorrowful that people have ever had to experience such painful situations in their life. It definitely feels unfair when you're an innocent victim of someone else's poor choices.
Truthfully, I haven't always responded in the best way to those negative situations - with good reason, but still, for MY OWN good, my responses in those moments could have been better. You may be thinking the same about your own situations.
So I have to ask ... What are we letting someone else willfully steal from us?
I didn't willfully let some random stranger steal a large Taco Bell lunch from me, but I was letting them steal my joy and peace.
I've come to find in recent years that protecting my peace is of high importance to me, and in order to be able to do that, I must release what I can't control.
"Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it." - Psalm 34:14 (NASB)
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