It takes a village to raise a child and apparently it takes a community to take care of me!
My regular, Saturday morning Zumba driver was not available today. Family obligation. Understandable. She is a friend, not my slave.
This morning my regular Thursday night Zumba driver texted me and offered a ride. Please! Then my Monday night substitute driver called. Did I need a ride? Since I knew Thursday likes to go grocery shopping after Saturday Zumba I suggested my Monday sub take me home.
Following this so far? If you are, you are a better person than I am! I don’t have permission to use names so we are sort of stuck. Sorry for the convoluted nature of all of this.
To continue…. Cool. Planning and strategizing worthy of a military campaign but I got there and got home.
Then I found out the reason people knew I needed a ride was it had been posted on Facebook. Hmmmmm
My first emotion was dismay. Oh my God. I am a stray puppy people want to get rid of. They are even ADVERTISING to get rid of me. Free to a good home and all that. I was a little embarrassed. Then I decided to re-frame the situation.
(Being a psychologist I get to use all these cool, professional terms. Basically, re-framing means looking at a situation in a different way in order to find more positive interpretations.)
Everyone could have begged off and not given me a thought. They are doing me favors and could stop at any time. I am not their responsibility or their obligation.
Instead, they cared enough to try to find a substitute driver for me. They put it on social media because that is how to communicate. It is also a good way to reach a large group of people in a short period of time. I should not be embarrassed people are asking for help for me on Facebook. I should be proud and grateful they have taken it upon themselves to see my needs are filled.
A situation that had me embarrassed got re-framed into a situation that allowed me to feel gratitude.
And hitching a ride with my Monday sub even gave me a chance to pass it on. My driver has a 90-year-old friend with vision problems. She does not like to use a hand lens. What would I suggest? What would I suggest????? Oh, baby, do I have suggestions for her!
So, what did I learn today?
Take things in the spirit in which they were intended. Re-frame my interpretation as needed.
Pass it on.