As with many people, the year that I’d carefully planned last December has unraveled. It’s required continual re-evaluating and adjusting to whatever comes. Of course, my illusion of being in control has disappeared.

I realized that I like to think of life as similar to riding down a river in a raft, without a paddle! When things are good my raft is in the middle of the river, floating quickly and smoothly towards my destination. However, at times the river may suddenly push my raft towards the edge, where the trees overhang and the rocks are plentiful. As my raft continues to move, the low-hanging branches knock me around, we bang into rocks, and all I can do is hang on and try to stay in the boat.

At other times my raft and I may end up in an eddy, where we go around in circles and I feel quite stuck. Or the raft and I might actually go over the falls, where I’ll be thrown into the water, and my job is to remember to breathe as I attempt to climb back into the raft.

Whether my raft is floating effortlessly down the middle, or headed for the falls, is often out of my control.

I remind myself that I might not be in control of what is happening around me, but I am always in control of my reactions to what is going on. My job is to continue to hang on, stay with the raft at all costs, and know that eventually the situation will change for the better.

This is what I’ve been focusing on this year. As we move into 2021 and potential solutions to many of our challenges, I can feel my raft coming out of the eddy and once again moving smoothly down the river towards my destination.

As much as I like to think things happen in my time, I’m reminded once again that everything has its own time, and what I can do is stay optimistic and flexible, remember to breathe and focus on the good, and keep on going. This is the way to get through things as we all continue to move ahead towards a brighter future.

Sandra Abell

Sandy is a best-selling author, life and business coach, speaker, and Licensed Counselor. She specializes in working with professionals, entrepreneurs and people dealing with life transitions, and is the author of the Amazon bestseller Feeling Good About You and Moving Up to Management for New Supervisors (both available on Amazon.com). Please visit Sandy on her website at www.insidejobscoach.com to check out her books and free resources, and sign up for her Free Newsletter