What do you do when life throws you something you didn’t expect at all?

Yes, it happened today. I opened my email and there was an email I just hadn’t expected at all. Yes, I’d expected some sort of communication from the person. But never in my wildest imagination would I have foreseen their response being what it was.

As I said, this was right at the beginning of my work day.

At that moment I had choices, right?

I could get angry about their message and respond to it right away.

I could pass it on to others who needed to be updated on the situation.

I could write a hasty reply and get it out of my system.

I could print it out, set a match to it and forget about it.

I could have dwelt on it, mulled it over and allowed it to influence my work during the day.

I could put it aside till I had time and space to think the situation through and craft my best reply.

You get the picture. I could have done anything I wanted to do.

Ultimately though, I had an immediate choice to make. Would I allow it to negatively influence my entire work day? Would I put it aside until I had time to deal with it?

Let’s be honest here. A few months ago I’d probably have let it upset me and negatively influence my entire day.

However, part of my journey this year has been developing a framework for my week that frees me to do what I’ve chosen as my focus for each day and time segment of the week.

Now, if you’d suggested that to me a couple of years ago I’d have adamantly said that there was absolutely no way in this sweet world I was going to be bound to a regimen or structure like that.

You see, I had the notion that such structures would imprison me and force me to do stuff at appointed days and times.

What I experienced this morning was the total reverse. My structure and regimen allowed me the freedom to put the email to the side to be dealt with at the appointed time and day in my week when I deal with such matters.

Wow! That was freeing! I don’t have to worry about it or even think about it till then.

The moral of the story is this – structure gives you freedom.

Who’d have thought I’d ever have been a convert to that?

But it’s true. Wonderfully, gloriously true. And I’m living proof of it today.

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