When the Unexpected Happens

Tsokolateria, an artisanal chocolate restaurant and unexpected find when I lost my way
(not all of today's surprises were unpleasant)

I hate unpleasant surprises.  I guess everyone does but perhaps moreso for me because I am the kind of person who wants every single detail of my life planned. Hence these unexpected, unpleasant twists and turns can be very stressful for me.  For this vacation therefore I've made sure that I would be well-armed for all possible circumstances - extra shirts, rescue balm, soothing balm, insect repellant, my own tea infusions and tea tumbler, one piece of overnight sanitary pad even if it's just the 14th day of my cycle - just in case! As what I already know but still get overwhelmed each time it happens, we can only anticipate and prepare so much.  

Today, I had two unexpected experiences - one was annoying, the other disappointing.  

When I left home on Sunday, I noticed I was having inter-menstrual bleeding. It seemed to be simple spotting so I brushed it aside and thought it would resolve in a few days.  This morning, I realised what seemed to be an irregular spotting had become a full-blown menstrual period.  How could that be?  I only had my period two weeks ago and yesterday was my 14th day in the current cycle.  I had worn my overnight pad last night and so began to panic when I realised my bleeding was heavy which meant my pantyliners wouldn't do.  Why now?  Don't I really deserve a perfect vacation?  It's just so ill-timed. What now?  I'm in the middle of nowhere and early in the morning I ended up texting my host to tell her I'd join her on her way out to work at 6:00 AM.  There went my lazy morning in bed, but I was so relieved to have found a 24-hour convenience store that sold sanitary pads.  

The second incident had to do with my visit in what had always been my favourite restaurant in Baguio.  One of my all-time favourites was the gado-gado, an Indonesian salad.  I had been dreaming about it since the day I booked this vacation.  I walked under the heat of the noon sun only to discover that they've phased out my gado-gado.  How could they?  Didn't they know this is my favourite?  Also disappointing was the obvious deterioration of the quality of the food served.  The ambience had improved, but the food had worsened. Still,  I ordered other lesser favourites and felt my joy came more from the sentimental value of the place to me rather than for what I was actually eating. 

It's fair to say that I managed to bounce back and handled the situations quite well.  It helped a lot that I didn't allow my emotions to totally ruin things.  It helped as well that I could stay focused and be present to everything that was happening - to the not-so-pleasant as well as to the brighter side of things - rather than being blinded by the negative. Rather than the usual agitation over losing control, I felt that facing the unexpected and uncontrollable situation with objectivity and a positive attitude was very empowering.  It gave me a sense of control over my responses.  

In the face of uncontrollable situations, we still have options and choosing that which is most appropriate and growth-promoting gives us more control not over the situation but over ourselves.