racoma.netI love to write. I write to live. I live to love.

Last night was supposed to be just like any old lazy Sunday evening. We just had dinner, had cleaned up, and were lounging about the house when the power died. Apparently, a transformer in our block blew up and a few houses lost electricity. It wasn’t a very warm night, but the humidity was hard to take. We found ourselves hustling the kids into the car for a drive to do some errands.

When things get shaken up like this, what can you do?

Oftentimes, we encounter an unexpected change, like a change in plans, a change in situations, or when something does not happen as originally planned. Do you allow yourself to get waylaid? Oftentimes, I find myself like this. I try to go with the flow. I try to adapt to the situation. You sometimes resign yourself into passiveness and just let things be.

But I think the better thing to do is try to take charge of the situation rather than let it control you. Or at least try to look at the bright side of things, and try to take advantage of it. You may not necessarily be able to charge at it head-on, but you can turn it around and use it to your advantage. It’s just like the concept in martial arts of using the momentum of your opponent’s attack against him, instead of directly opposing it.

When the power died, I was glad I was working on the laptop, and that I did not lose any unsaved work. I was glad I wasn’t working on mission-critical work where broadband connectivity was an absolute necessity (although I have backup connectivity with wireless). I was glad we had running water. It would surely be uncomfortable and inconvenient to lose both power and water service (which is sometimes the case during very bad weather). And in a way, I was glad I had some errands to run, and that I could do these even in the dead of the night.

In a way, I was trying to look at the bright side of things, and was trying to take the opportunity to make the better of the situation.

When things go differently, the first reaction one usually has would be to curse and be angry at the situation, especially if things go drastically different. But then after this has subsided, the best thing to do next is try to grab the situation by the balls, make the better of it, and hope things turn out right.

Sure, the hour-long drive last night was tiring. But we were able to accomplish something that could have been logistically difficult had it been done today (we expect heavy traffic due to the scheduled State of the Nation Address by the President). And one learns a lot from conversations and observations while on the road.

image source