My wife and I went with a group to Israel. It was a wonderful
experience but as with any great endeavor there are always a few spots
that are not quite as wonderful.
I loved being in the Galilee, I loved Jerusalem, I enjoyed the food
and hearing the languages and seeing the people and all of the rich
history from the Bible and more.
One of the things that I was most looking forward to was floating in
the Dead Sea. I had heard about it and read about it. I had heard
people talk about how cool it was and how hard it was to stand and how
wonderful the sensation was. So I planned for that experience.
Part of my plan was to pack my things needed for a beach. I had an
extra large baggie from the steering wheel cover that I had purchased.
I stuffed that baggie full of my bathing suit, a longsleeved shirt to
protect my arms and body from the sun, sandals, and a beach towel.
And I packed all those things two weeks before our trip to Israel and
kept it in a safe place so that I would remember to pack it in my
suitcase.
I packed that baggie in my suitcase and put everything else around it.
It made it to Israel just fine and I made sure that it was ready for
that one day deep in the trip.
The day came. I grabbed the big baggie of Dead Sea things and put it
in my day pack. We went through the whole day and everything was like
every other day, rush rush rush to see and learn as much as we could
throughout the day. Of course with so many things packed in the day
and traffic and everything the Dead Sea float was at the end of the
day just before dinner. So when we got to the Dead Sea we had already
been hearing "hurry hurry hurry" for most of the afternoon.
The guide told us where the changing rooms were and said we needed to
meet up at a certain time. The time he mentioned was not very long
after we got off the bus. The people in our group all rushed to go
and change into their bathing suits. Being considerate and having
been considerate to the others in my group of the rest of the trip I
was considerate again and lagged behind as I tend to do. The men were
in the restrooms for quite a long time. I went from the restroom that
was full of people not of our group as well as the men from our group
and went to find one of the changing stalls near the water. Of course
that was full also and I was patiently waiting outside of one. When
the person that was in there came out one of the people in my group
went in even though I was standing right there waiting to go in to
change my clothes. So I went to the bathroom again to see if the
stalls were empty and I could change into my bathing clothes and of
course the stalls were full of other people now. And as our limited
amount of time at the Dead Sea dwindled I began to get upset
I stopped myself and let the last couple of guys that were in our
group go ahead of me. And then I did something that was a luxury on
this trip, I went in after everybody was done and I got to sit on the
toilet for a few minutes. I played a little game on my phone and
enjoyed the rest while using the toilet and then cleaned up and wash
my hands and went out and sat on a bench with my baggie full of Dead
Sea bathing clothes that I had carried with me to Israel.
I was stunned and angry and hurt and upset. I really wanted to shout
and cuss and make a scene. But I did not.
And I watched people walk by. I listened to the people in the water
and watched them all rush out to change back into their regular
clothes. The guide was busy telling everybody to "hurry hurry hurry"
because the next stop was dinner and we needed to get there so that we
could get our dinner before the restaurant closed. And I started to
feel very peaceful about my choice.
In situations like this I can begin to blame people and things for me
not getting what I wanted. Too many people were in my way. Too many
people took advantage of my consideration. I got cut off.
But this time I came up with a phrase that helped me accept what had
happened. I had made lots of plans and had everything lined up for my
Dead Sea float to be a wonderful experience that I'd be able to tell
people about for years.
My plans didn't work out
That phrase has started to save me a lot of pain and suffering. When
I tell myself that "my plans didn't work out" I'm not blaming anybody
and I'm not angry. I can look at it objectively and see where I could
have planned better and maybe done something a little bit different.
Or sometimes there's just no way that the long-term plans that were
laid out worked and it just didn't happen.
So I feel more healthy now. I feel like I have a strategy that can
help me not only deal with not getting the float in the Dead Sea
during our trip to Israel but can help me deal with many other things
that happen along the way that are not in line with my.
For someone who plans a lot and predicts and forecasts and adjusts to
make things happen according to the plan it's very difficult to say
"my plans didn't work out". But it helps me accept the reality of what
happens.
