Thankful Thursday: playing the hand I'm dealt

I know it isn't Thursday yet, but close enough! :)

One of the surest things that in life is that things don't always go as planned. Sometimes this can be disappointing. And sometimes it can be a blessing in disguise. But either way it ends up, one thing is for certain... we're all going to have to deal with the unexpected sometimes. Now comes the tricky part: how we deal with it.

Some people have it mastered. They never seem disappointed when things don't work out like they thought they would. Well, I am not one of those people, that's for sure. I don't think I would even want to be, if I'm being honest. I think it's okay to be disappointed when people let you down. Inevitably, it's going to happen to all of us. There isn't a perfect person out there, so even the best people occasionally fall below the mark. And if we are disappointed in something someone did or didn't do, we should be honest enough to tell them, as kindly as possible.

Then there are those people who cannot handle it when The Plan goes awry. I capitalized that on purpose. Because, to some people, The Plan is of the utmost importance. They simply do not know how to delve away from it. I can relate to that a little. I used to be the kind of person who hated it when things got out of wack. If I was supposed to do something and it fell through, it really bothered me. Bothered me to the point of eating me up a little. 

Well, I am happy to report, I am no longer that person. I'm not sure when it happened. Perhaps it was just going through one setback after another let-down followed by yet another bummer that brought me to a place where I can look disappointment in the eye and laugh whole-heartedly at it. And, well, I'm so completely and absolutely thoroughly thankful for that! I can't tell you what a relief it is to not have to follow much of a plan. It's not like I'm going through life willy-nilly or anything. Of course, I have a rough plan. But it's pretty vague. And guess what? If I don't stick to the plan, I don't fret about it. No siree!

It really helps to have this new sense of non-direction, shall we say, when your life is a little topsy-turvy. Which mine definitely seems to be these days! It isn't that I gave up caring. I just gave up worrying. (For the most part anyway. lol) And it's such a relief. We went out on a limb and started this little side business and it's starting to pay off. The old Denise wouldn't have dared, because she would have been too worried that it wouldn't work out according to plan. But the new me is different. I figure if we make this stuff, which I happen to like, and don't sell any, then I guess I'll be stuck with a bunch of cool, antique furniture and findings. I can live with that prospect. Doesn't sound too bad to me. :)

The moral of this story is, we all get dealt a hand. It's what we do with those cards that counts. Sometimes you get a royal flush. Other times you feel like you have a handful of jokers. But I thank God everyday that I have learned to play the hand I'm dealt. When it's bad, I might fold. Or I might just keep playing my hand for the fun of it. If you enjoy playing the game, winning and loosing doesn't seem so important anymore. I'm enjoying my life, as ridiculously off-track as it is most days. And that's what counts after all.