And sometimes it REALLY happens and sewer water backs up out of your sink.
Whatta ya gonna do?
I had a plan for Monday, which was to GET STUFF DONE. Leaving the country in 48 hours meant that I had a To-Do list as long as my mat and there was not a second to spare.
My morning practice – check.
Emails – check.
Teach a Lunch Flow class at my studio – check.
I was killing this day.
But you know what wasn’t on that list? Bailing quickly-rising sewer water out of a clogged studio sink with one hand and using my phone to call for help with the other hand.
WHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHY????
My 1:15pm meeting was on-site with a new teacher on the Nova Yoga scene and once I had the sink situation stabilized for a moment I ran to the other room and told her we couldn’t chat because of a plumbing emergency.
“My husband owns a plumbing company – do you want me to call him.”
YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES!!!!
The next few hours were spent carrying buckets of water down the stairs and into the street while the plumbers tried to diagnose the problem. And while the sink water wasn’t flowing, my dreams of tackling all the tasks on my list promptly slid down the drain.
The potential for a tantrum and tears was high. What is the problem? Will it be fixed before I have to get on a plane? What are we going to do about classes this evening? What about the emails I was supposed to write and projects I was supposed to finish this afternoon?
Perhaps on another day this situation would have whipped me into a frenzy but, on this day, I kept my cool. For one, I caught the sink back-up happening instead of walking into a flooded space. Bonus! And I had an amazing colleague by my side whose husband owns a plumbing company. Are you kidding me?? How much better could this work out?
Seeing those blessings gave me some perspective on how much worse the situation could have been and I just rolled with it. We put a few “out of order” signs on bathroom doors, only had to cancel 1 out of 3 evening classes, and everyone was incredibly understanding. The worst-case scenario the plumbers relayed to me didn’t happen and everything was cleared up (and out) in the morning.
Life is awesome and messy and unpredictable and sh*t will happen, again and again. But how we react, respond, and deal 
with the sh*t is everything. Keeping a cool head, maintaining a sense of humour, and going with the flow was so crucial in handling this situation AND had a major impact on everyone involved. I was really proud of myself for not freaking out and it’s cool to see the tangible effects of my yoga practice in real life (regulated nervous system – check!)
A huge shout out to Dawe’s Plumbing and Heating in St. John’s for showing up on short notice and saving the day. And many thanks to Christa Steeves for helping me carry buckets of dirty water down the stairs and for reminding me to breathe =D
Do you have a story of a freak out moment when you were able to keep your cool and go with the flow? I’d love to hear from you!
-melanie-
xo