Kickin' & Screamin'

We’ve all heard the saying, being in the “right place at the right time.”  And really….when you think about it, every human alive today is a result of this very saying–in one way or another.  Perhaps you were conceived because your parents were just in the right place at the right time.  Had one little thing changed during the course of their day, perhaps you would have never been.  Yes, they would have most likely conceived at another time…but YOU–the exact YOU  that you are today…might have never been.

Many of us are where we are today because of that perfect moment….something, somewhere along the way, had us in the right place at the right time.   A chance meeting with an old friend….a good deed at the right moment…perhaps a job opening at the exact time you desperately needed employment.

Many couples claim that their romance only began because of a chance meeting…because each of them were in the right place at the right time.  Many of these relationships have lasted longer than some of us have been alive, because of that one moment when each of them happened to be exactly where they were at the right moment…linking them with the one they would spend the rest of their lives with.

Sometimes the feeling of being in the right place at the right time can be a fleeting moment of laughter.  I broke quarantine today to head up to the Home Depot for some yard supplies.  Don’t judge….my yard work is keeping me sane, and trust me– sanity is most definitely the direction I should be striving towards these days. As I quickly bustled through the garden department wearing my lovely mask (hand crafted by a sweet friend….so, yeah…I was feeling kinda cute)…I tripped.  I mean, I tripped bad.  And often, when I trip, I scream.  I don’t know why…but I always scream.  Like an idiot.  Somehow, my brain insists on adding even more attention to the fact that I’m already toppling down to the ground, dropping a tray of begonias as I go… but the added scream was a surefire way to guarantee that everyone in that garden department saw my not-so-pretty exhibit.  Good times.

As I approached the register to pay, carefully waiting six feet behind the gentleman ahead of me, I noticed him looking back at me.  I figured he was just admiring my cute mask or my “ask me about my cats” t-shirt.  He looked me up and down and finally asked, “Are you okay?”  Before having a chance to answer his unexpected question, he said “that tumble you took over there was EPIC.  I was ready to help you up if you’d gone all the way down.”  I burst in to laughter, and he quickly joined me…as I could tell that he was holding back laughter from the beginning of our conversation.  He went on to add, “I’m sorry….but I’ve just had a really hard week, and I needed a good laugh more than you could ever imagine.  I’m sorry to be laughing at you.”  I told him that I was very happy to provide him with a laugh.

I don’t know why his week had been so hard.  Maybe just the quarantine?  Maybe he has a sick loved one.  Maybe he’s lost his job.  I’ll never know.  But he was in the right place at the right time to see my graceful fanfare, and I’m glad.

So, all of this has me thinking about this shelter-in-place.  The COVID-19.  The scare.  The nervousness.  The fact that we don’t even know what “normal” is anymore.

Are we, perhaps, at the right place at the right time?  Right now?

I know that I am practicing shelter-in-place with my daughter.  We are spending more time together.  We’re playing games.  We’re putting puzzles together.  We’re laughing.  We’re dancing.  We are growing.

We aren’t going to restaurants.  We aren’t going to movies.  We aren’t going shopping.

Every minute that we would normally spend doing those things is a minute spent bonding together.  Experiencing happiness.  Simple happiness.  Nothing fancy….just staying at home and making the best of each and every day.

When I’m much older, I will look back on these days with fond memories.  Sure, I’ll also remember the sadness of hearing of those who’ve passed away from the virus.  I’ll remember the stories of those who can’t even plan a proper memorial service for their lost loved ones.  I’ll remember the stories of those who can’t visit their parents in the hospital.  I’ll remember the stories of those who have lost money.  Lost jobs.  Lost more than they think they’ll ever get back.

But I’ll also remember the simpleness.  The baking of cakes and singing in the kitchen.  Working in the yards, finding birds nests and planting flowers. Listening to music on the front porch while eating dinner.  Writing letters to friends.  Paying it forward by delivering highly coveted toilet paper to a friend, after the same kind gesture was done for me weeks before.  Watching movies I’ve watched five times before, but crying this time….because I see everything differently now.  Songs make me cry now…songs that I didn’t even know the lyrics to before all of “this” happened.

My daughters laughter has always been one of the most beautiful sounds in the world…but now it gives me chills.  It brings happy tears to my eyes.

My Mothers voice makes me love her even more.  She is beginning to sound just like my grandmother.  And I’m beginning to sound just like her.

I’m praying more.  I’m reading my Bible more.  I’m crying more happy tears.  I’m singing more.  I’m appreciating every single day.  I’m in the right place.

This is only happening because of what is happening in our world.  I’m in the right place, at the right time.  Were it not for what’s happening, I wouldn’t be in this place…the state of being that I’m in right now.  I’d be somewhere else.  Mentally.  Emotionally.  Even physically.  I’d simply be somewhere else.  I bet the same is true for you.

Let’s all be in the right place, at THIS time.  This crazy, scary time.   And let’s be the RIGHT PERSON for this time.  This unbelievable, different time.  Let’s be a person who stays positive.  A person who prays.  A person who will strive to remember how this felt, and never, ever take things for granted again.

It’s hard for some to believe, or understand.  But we ARE in the right place right now.  We are where God wants us.  We need to learn from this.  I will learn different things than you….for my heart needs different things than yours.  We will all change, in different ways.  We will all grow, in different ways.  We will all come out of this different than we were before.

We’re in the right place, at the right time.  Let’s strive to be the RIGHT PERSON in the right place, at this time.

We’ve got this!

God Bless….