Living Life 'On the Fly'

The first time I strapped on an apron and went to work waiting tables, it was all I could do to keep up with this demanding new race of people better known as ‘customers’. And, given that I’d never waited tables a day in my life before this particular job (leading me to wonder to this day why they hired me) my skills were, how shall we say, less than perfect…..

……which naturally provided me with the perfect introduction to a common restaurant term known as ‘on the fly’. Here's how it works. When a waiter – let’s use myself as a hypothetical example – messes up a customer’s order, the response is simple and instantaneous. The waiter rushes to the kitchen and promptly informs the chef that a new order is needed ‘on the fly’. This translates in the chef’s head as, ‘Move this order up in the line ahead of all other waiting orders’. The readjustments are quickly made, the dish is served up, the customer is (hopefully) mollified and willing to return to the restaurant again in the future, and the waiter’s tip is salvaged.

In looking back on my experiences as a waiter, I realize that this is a very good template for daily life. So many times during an average day our carefully concocted plans, well thought out expectations and non-negotiable needs are somehow swept aside to make way for unanticipated events. We wake up in the morning, calm and confident, and by noon the demanding diva of our unfolding day has taken the lead, leaving us to manage as best we can to stay above the surface of its rough and unwelcome waves.

Recovery is similar. Just because yesterday we experienced a serious mis-step, or a long-awaited victory, does not mean we have the right or reason to try to shove today into the same mold. We have to learn to live life ‘on the fly’, rolling with the punches, tiptoeing through the trouble spots, warmly embracing the small (and large) miracles, and through it all keeping an inviting, welcoming smile on our faces that says to the world, ‘No matter what you’ve got, I’ve got what it takes to get through it with my health, sanity and spirit intact’.

This is life lived ‘on the fly’. This is how we cope with the sudden presence of the much-feared oreo at snack, the gooey warmth of the pizza slice calling us from its box, the siren song of the forbidden beer in its refreshingly cold bottle, the anger in our trusted friend’s voice, the usually calm and competent boss having a bad day of her own, the mysteriously sick child, the painful flu germs coursing through our own veins….this is ‘how we roll’, as my manager is so fond of saying. We roll with it, through it, past it, neatly adjusting with the grace and ease of a slalom skier to the appearance of unforeseen obstacles and opportunities in the road just ahead.

We learn from living life ‘on the fly’ how strong and flexible we really can be. Of course, in every moment we have a choice – an exploratory choice to be made. We have to decide if, in the chance encounter of that unexpected moment, we want to challenge ourselves, to find out what we’re really made of, to look for the new decision to be made even as we notice our own knee jerking and itching to respond in its familiar, if toxic, way.

Every waiter standing at their customer’s table has a choice to make in an ‘on the fly’ situation – to blame someone else, to blame themselves, to offer excuses (true or not so true), or to simply take action to FIX the issue at hand. Setting all blame, shame, excuse, 20/20 hindsight, and ‘better luck next time’ thinking aside, the successful waiter becomes like a streamlined eagle, feathers flattened by the wind’s speed as s/he streaks towards the kitchen to remedy the situation with a simple three words….’Chef, I need this dish ‘on the fly’.‘

We are all eagles. We all have what it takes to live life ‘on the fly’. We all have the innate intuition to take life lessons from even the most mundane of circumstances and apply them to our recovery lives, vastly enhancing our progress towards our goals. If we didn’t have this ability, whatever we struggle with now would have gotten the best of us long ago. Now the challenge becomes learning how to live a life of constant vigilance, in constant readiness to readjust at a moment’s notice, so that no matter which direction the winds of life are blowing on any given day, we still creatively, flexibly, wisely and patiently reach our desired destination.

Much love,

Shannon

If you would like to submit a question or idea for a topic you would like to see addressed in a future edition, please send it to Shannon c/o Good News HERE