Two weeks ago, I took a tumble and sprained my ankle. We were out for a family walk and my six-year-old son had created a game of jumping over bushes and bouncing off trees. He asked me to join in. I refused until we approached our house and I noticed two small bushes I could easily jump over. . .
Or so I thought.
The second one took me out. I hopped over it but twisted my ankle when I landed.
Not in my plans!
My husband carried me inside and we iced my ankle. Sadly, this was not my first rodeo. Thanks to soccer, I’ve sprained both ankles several times before.
I felt so silly this time. Not only that, but the next day I had plans: to do laundry and pack for our road trip to visit family two days later. How would I get anything done with a sprained ankle?
As I sat on the couch that evening, my family was very attentive to me. My husband took care of me. My kids were so concerned and were extra sweet to me.
It was really nice!
That’s when I remembered a phrase author and leadership guru Michael Hyatt says when the unexpected happens: “What does this make possible?”
While the sprained ankle made me miss my tap class and prevented me from preparing for our trip the next day as planned, it made it possible for me to rest after a very busy week. I was able to sleep in the next day, keep my foot up, read and catch up on some of my shows. My mom, husband and kids took care of most of the laundry and packing. I didn’t have to load or unload the car for our trip. My husband dropped our dog off at the dog sitter. Lila packed our snack bag.
They took so much off my plate. It allowed me to slow down, ask for help and allow other people to take care of me. It was nice!
I was only on crutches for a few days and thankfully, was able to get around on our trip just fine. I am pretty much back to normal and was even able to go to tap class this week. ?
So the next time you find yourself frustrated when things don’t turn out the way you planned, ask yourself: What does this make possible?
There’s often unexpected blessings on the other side of the unexpected. Let’s be on the lookout for them and learn to embrace them.
