If You Think Life Can’t Get Any Crazier…
India celebrates their Republic Day on January 26. Akin to the US Fourth of July, India honors this date when India became a democratic country, free of the British colonial rule. As you can imagine, this joyous occasion is celebrated by all with fireworks, parades, patriotism, and pride. You expect everything and anything to happen…almost.
I was on my way to play volleyball at the American School of Bombay when I literally had to pull out my phone to capture this moment. I’ve seen families of 4 on a motorbike and goats in an autorickshaw but never a dog riding on a motorbike like this. How did I react? Shock at first but then quickly re-composed myself as there is a famous phrase uttered here – “This is India”. This shouldn’t have surprised me. It didn’t for the two pedestrians who are walking across the street. But, like life, it’s how you react that counts.
I’ve been slow to write in this month’s blog. Life has a funny way to ensure that all the craziness occurs in a short time span. Within January:
- My wife had to travel back to the US for a three week business trip
- My father-in-law had surgery in India
- I had to conduct a board meeting at the school
- Ensure the well-being of my two children
- Prepare our transition back to Colorado in July as we finalized plans
Like the reaction to the dog on the motorbike, I took a deep breath and focused on what I can control in my realm of influence – setting up the surgeon’s appointment, concentrate the board’s agenda and subsequent discussions on the fundamentals of the school, and called Papa John’s pizza (for many dinners). For the long term transition activities, there is time to adequately address those issues like enrolling the kids back into school, preparing our house, and finding a job – perhaps those reading this blog can help me with that J
I realized I can’t control life’s “chaos”, but I can control my actions. In the end, Grandpa had a successful cancer-free surgery, my school board meeting aligned and converged the trustees into an unifying decision, and my children were extremely happy eating lots of pizza – “Father of the Year”! (sorry, Mom).
When life brings it on in full force, I urge you to stop and assess:
- What you can control
- What really matters
- What you really need to do
You will quickly realize there are only a few “must do” actions. The rest are just “nice to do”. As they say, “Keep it simple” but also “Keep it sane”.