How To Handle The Unexpected

I want to talk about what to do when situations in our lives fall through the cracks. It can be extremely frustrating. So how do we manage our emotions when the unexpected happens?

Recently I had a show get cancelled on me only two days prior to the event. I had already sorted the childcare, the music, turned down other opportunities, only to be told that the other band involved wanted to push the date, leaving the venue no choice but to cancel. The moment I read the email I went into panic mode. I had to cancel the childcare last minute, not being fair to the childminder's schedule. I had to make sure that all who were coming to the gig knew it was cancelled, so they didn't waste their time. I had to try and not feel sorry for myself, that I had let go of other opportunities. Once the initial panic was over, I took a deep breath and said, right, I have done everything I could possibly do as damage control, and then left it at that. For some reason, the whole situation didn't stay with me and weigh on my mind. I was quickly able to let it go. The two years ago me could have never done that. So what changed?

For me it's accepting that the majority of the time, life is out of our control. No matter how hard we try to be perfectly organised, in life there are chain reactions that potentially knock us down. In my case this has happened many times. I had an understanding that most knock down moments in life were out of my hands but not a full accepting of it. This is the difference.

Same weekend, we were prepared to film our music video for my next single, Lioness. Not sure what it is with the short notice, but the videographer start asking us for certain things last minute. Wanting to oblige to his needs, we responded asking him for more detail as to what he needed. A day passed. Two days passed. No response. No response up until now and the shoot was supposed to have taken place two days ago. Again we had to plan childcare, shooting locations, finish the storyboard, etc. I was not happy. How did I deal? You know that saying, everything happens for a reason? Well it's true. The way I see it, is that we were not meant to work with this particular person, allowing us to open the door for a new working relationship with another talented individual.

Another unexpected life problem handled.

We get knocked down, but we move on. We can only control our actions, and so if something happens and you can't fix it, it's ok. Do your best to make it better somehow and know that that's enough.