Not meant to be

Some things are not meant to be.

I was supposed to get on a flight last night and wasn’t notified that it was cancelled (Pro tip: Never ever ever ever fly Air India). As I was stuck in a really bad and unusual traffic jam that added an extra hour to the usual 20 minute journey to the airport, I was unable to buy a replacement ticket since all flights heading home take off around the same time.

I just had to laugh. It just wasn’t meant to be. In hindsight, while the experience wasn’t great, it wasn’t all that bad. Spent time with friends, submitted a request for a refund with proof of no information about the cancellation(the first request was denied by Air India!), submitted a claim on my travel insurance for the first time, etc. Yes, I’ve lost some sleep and I’m missing an event I was supposed to attend but this just seemed to be the work of forces beyond my control.

I don’t know if I have always been a huge control freak but I probably did have delusions about the kind of control I had over my life. But, over the past few months, I have repeatedly come up against situations, big and small, that have ripped this illusion to shreds. I haven’t been able to out-work or out-hustle myself out of them and I’ve found myself going back to a maxim of a wiser friend – “Perhaps life is trying to teach me something here..”

And it has. I’m glad I wasted no energy on anger (moaning is not allowed anyway – I have the privilege to FLY for god’s sake! How ridiculously fortunate..). I laughed, shrugged, and moved on.

I’ve learnt these past few months that you can push things, but only so much. Knowing when to push and when to quit is an art that we hone over the course of the lifetime. I’ve always tended to push too much rather than too little. I guess I’ve been more impatient and less wise as a consequence. But, my quote for the day says “wisdom is nothing more than healed pain.” Perhaps life is just teaching me to be wise?

Either way, the ability to just shrug at an annoyance, laugh, and move on has not come easy for me (sounds like such a small and easy thing, I know!). And I’ll take that learning.. and some wisdom if you will. 

Life is always teaching us something. We just have to be open to the lesson..