Some things are out of my control

My family got sick last week. The bug we got was so bad and so contagious that the Gamer’s school asked him not to return until three days after symptoms had ended. My husband was out of town for work, which meant I was facing a long week with no reprieve and no backup.

Unusually for me, I didn’t panic. My first thought after taking a very deep breath was, “That’s ok. We can make it through this. It will come and go and we’ll be fine.” I may or may not have had a tiny breakdown right after this, however.

This is some serious progress for me. I tend to panic at moments like this. When something terrible is on the horizon and I have no control over it I’ll either try a quick fix that ends up futile, or focus on how bad it will be. Usually both.

This time I just stopped and said, “Yes, that’s life. We’ll make it through.”

How did I learn this from the Nordics? 

Acceptance is a Nordic trait. I would almost say it is a tradition. They accept the dark cold winter. They accept responsibility for themselves. They accept that things will be difficult. And they go about making the best of it.

But the flip side of that acceptance is that they also appreciate things. It may be freezing and dark outside, but they appreciate that they can get snuggly and spend time together in the winter. They appreciate their friends and family. They appreciate their natural resources. They look for and focus on the benefit.

I decided to accept the fact that we would all get sick. And I chose to appreciate having my family home with no responsibilities for a few days. And you know what? It was amazing.

What did I learn from this?

Make the most of right now.