Good intentions

“How did this happen?” I ask myself.  I made an informal contract with myself that I would add to this blog twice a week, and had every intention of doing so, but you know what the road to hell is paved with, don’t you? 

So all my good intentions went for naught, and I took care of my ankle, sprained for the third time in two years when I tripped over the ramp that Lucy has to use to get into the car. I made up my mind to accompany my husband to every medical appointment, to check in on friends who need checking in on, and to listen to every webinar that could add to my professional expertise. Added to the regular routine of working, taking care of my household, worrying about the world, answering the phone every five minutes and hanging up on the political calls, the offers for free estimates for everything from installing solar energy to cleaning my carpets, the day slips away, and I have neither added to my blog, nor pursued my exercise plan, and I feel guilty and like I am not living up to my potential.

But, taking cues from my Learning Circles, from my appreciative living mentor, and from my own experiences, I have to ask myself, what can I learn from this? What lessons are there embedded in all of this? And how can I step to one side or the other to see what is good here?

Taking the first two principles, the constructionist and the poetic principle together, I can look at how I am telling this story. Let’s take a look at the ankle sprain. How am I going to tell this story? I tripped and the sprained ankle has limited me to the point that I have been unable to take walks, and I feel less sure of my balance. If I see this as something that is holding me back, then that is just what it is. 

However, if I see this event in a more positive light, as the way in which I have made contact with a group of physical therapists who are as involved in the community as I wish to be, who I have connected with in a way that may help us work together in a way that is mutually beneficial and benefits our community as well, then there is a good outcome to be seen here.  The poetic principle helps me to create the story that I want out of this experience, to tell it in such a way as to be appreciative of what is. No I am never going to appreciate spraining my ankle, but I can appreciate what has come out of the experience, and let that take me to the next step of imagining what could be.  I could create an alliance with a smart lady and we might work together in some way. We might be able to institute a program in our community that could benefit seniors as well as ourselves.

I’ll write in the next blog about the third step in the Appreciative Living Process, acting in alignment, so that possibilities can be realized.