All of the best planning in the world can’t always prevent life from getting in the way of our plans. I learned that (once again) the hard way this week and there is no doubt in my mind that I, like everyone else, will continue to learn this lesson over and over again.
This week I was scheduled to have my first private acting lesson with the esteemed Susan Batson. To prepare myself, I signed up for a group lesson at her company to get a better feel and understanding of her methodologies so that I went into my first lesson feeling prepared.
It was pouring in New York the day of my group lesson so I left an extra hour and a half early to make sure I got there in time. In other words, I gave myself 150 minutes to make, what would normally be, a 40-minute commute. Naturally my commute that night took 153 minutes. When I finally got upstairs to the class, soaking wet and out of breath, I was 3 minutes too late. There was nothing anybody could do, including myself. I was simply too late and the class had started without me.
Needless to say, I was feeling pretty bad.
After observing all of this unfold, I was approached by a woman offering me her sympathy. “It happens to us all” she said to me with a warm smile, and she was right. She went on to explain how she always gives herself an extra hour for the “tailspin” whenever she has to get ready and be somewhere. While this didn’t exactly relate to my situation, it was the gesture and the kindness with which it was done that made me feel better.
We’re all going to have times when our best laid plans go astray because of forces that are outside of our control. What is important is that we bounce back from these obstacles with an unbroken spirit and try again. I may have missed the class that day but I took the class the next day and you better believe that I was there EARLY! The best thing we can do is live and learn.
I encourage everyone to try again when something you want doesn’t pan out the way you hoped it would. I also encourage you to be the person offering the warm smile or sympathetic gesture to a loved one or even a stranger. We’ll never fully know what someone else may be going through, but that shouldn’t stop us from trying to make his or her day a little better when we have the chance. A warm smile at the right moment could make somebody’s day. Be that smile.