The kids went on vacation earlier this summer without Alison and I. Grandparents Camp is a nice annual tradition for any child. We realized that an additional sleep machine would be needed, so at 1:34pm on a Saturday afternoon, I ordered one on Amazon. A 4:36am the next morning, Sunday morning, it was delivered. That’s stunning convenience.

It’s easy to get frustrated with the little inconveniences that we suffer throughout the day. The slow driver in the left lane, running out of our favorite coffee, the essential but unavailable items in our online grocery order. We have enough stressors in our lives to have to suffer these smaller, but still painful setbacks.

But what if we instead embraced the inconvenience? The slow driver is adding another two minutes to our trip. So what? We could replace the coffee with something else, or drive to a café and pick one up. Missing a key ingredient may be a way to spark some creativity in the kitchen.

When we let inconvenience loom large in our minds, we miss an opportunity to sharpen ourselves. We let a tiny detail derail our whole day. We welcome defeat without the least bit of resistance. Inconveniences happen; we choose our response.

Tags: Wellness