The Curve Ball

Sometimes in life, you get thrown a curve ball. (Does that analogy hit home in a 'mostly' non-baseball playing country??)

But you know what I mean. There are things that happen that you just don't see coming......that you're not prepared for....that are shocking, surprising, unexpected.

It's what you do in that moment when the curve ball hits....and the many moments afterwards when its effects are felt, that says an awful lot about the person you are, what you believe and determines what happens next.

Some people I know and love have faced HUGE curve balls lately.....major operations, massive personal challenges, ends of dreams.

And some have faced smaller ones....like yesterday.

I had arranged to meet two friends and their littlies for an hour or so of fun at the local Under 5s day. But I was late and then couldn't find either friend at the meeting place I had designated. Not that it was an ideal meeting place anyway. So I went on my merry way back through all the tents and activities, hoping they would find me. 15 minutes later, one did. She had been waiting down the other end for an hour!!!!! for me and another friend. She'd now found me, but her friend was still MIA....and there was no phone reception to try and track her down. As she was telling me the story she dropped her phone.......it did not bounce. As it hit the concrete path, it cracked and chipped in a couple of places. Hmmmmm....another curve ball. She left Miss T with me while she went to find her aforementioned friend.
Another 5 minutes later, the 2nd friend I had invited found me. She was carrying baby S and 2 yr old T was looking a little pale as he walked beside her. Seems 2 minutes before she pulled into her park, T threw up (in a brand new car). So she left him with me while she went back to the car to clean up the mess. So for the next little bit of time the 3 little ones and I had great fun exploring and playing while their poor Mums dealt with the ripples caused by the curve balls. One Mum caught up with us half and hour in and still got to have some fun, the other found us about 80 minutes later, just 5 minutes before we had to leave.

It was all a bit CRAZY! Unexpected...surprising...a little bit gross....frustrating....time wasting....annoying.....stressful......you get the picture.

But the responses of both girls in the midst of things not going to plan spoke volumes to me. They were matter of fact....gracious....forgiving.....calm.....collected.....and just got on and did what they needed to do. 

I do hope their days improved, but I am glad I saw how they reacted to those curve balls. It made me proud to know these women and have them in my life. It challenged me to consider how I would have responded if it had been me in those situations.  It reminded me that the way they chose to react was the best and the wisest way to face a curve ball and smash it out of the park!