Last week I got hit in the head with the heel of one of my favorite shoes. As I was rushing to get dressed, I was now going to be late the shoe flew out of the closet heal first into my forehead right above my left eyebrow. I said things that would not be appropriate to put in the blog. However, I will say that when things like this happen I tend to use colorful language that might come out of a sailor’s mouth. After I stopped yelling, I went to the mirror to make sure I was not bleeding. I felt a little light headed and kneeled down for a moment. My thoughts were, of course , “This is happening.” I had to ask – why do things like this always happen to me?

Earlier that morning I set out to bake some cinnamon rolls for my morning meeting. (I love to bake and do so a few times a week) I realized I had run out of powdered sugar, so cinnamon rolls were out. I thought I would make a quick scone but did not have what I needed for that. I settled on Irish soda bread which is a personal favorite (Recipe here).  It takes about 45 – 50 minutes to bake and I had just enough time before I had to leave for work.  I preheated the oven and went to work on the bread. I went to put the bread in the oven and it was off!  I was so pissed. I thought to myself “Why, why can’t thing just work?” I couldn’t put the bread in an oven that was not hot. The butter would melt before it got baked into the bread. Feeling flustered and frustrated, I put the bread on the counter while the oven got hot and ate some breakfast while stewing in my frustration and getting more and more anxious about being late to work and late to my important meeting.

I went to get my work clothes on. I pulled my shirt out of the closet and as I rushed to put the coat hanger back, I aimed too high and hit a box that had my leopard print heels sitting on top of it and the shoe came down, WHACK right at my forehead. After I went through the series of why me, poor me things in my head, I remembered my new friend Buddha. I took a few deep breaths and told myself these things happen. As I am just beginning to understand Buddhism I found what I have been reading helpful in this moment “Buddhism holds that good and evil are found within and that the mind is the source of it all” No-nonsense Buddhism for Beginners by Noah Rasheta. I realized in that moment (it took me getting a shoe to the forehead for me to begin to understand) that I was creating the evil around me by the way I was reacting.  The shoe was not evil, the oven was not evil, the powder sugar was not evil they were not out to get me. Things happen as part of life.

Rasheta give an acronym to remember the Four Nobel Truths key to Buddhism. ELSA.  

E- Embrace the instance of suffering

L – Let go of the reactive pattern

S – See the stopping to the reactivity

A – Act Skillfully

While I looked back on my morning I tried to see how well I embraced these truths. I eventually embraced the suffering, I took a breath to help stop my downward spiral and tried to stop my reaction but I don’t’ think I acted skillfully.  I still ran off to work saying goodbye to my husband with tears in my eye as I was full of all kind of emotions. While some of these things in the end to seem a little comical laughing about my morning later helped me feel better and taking those breaths really help me calm down. I felt like I was meant to learn something from all of this and I did. I began to, what I now call “embracing the suck”. That morning life happened, it unfolded and did go the way I wanted, as I know happens to everyone. I took a pause and it helped. I didn’t have a full fledge cry fest and for me that is a step in the right direction. I couldn’t let the shoe win!