I posted on Facebook, “Have you ever had one of those days where everything went right? Me too! Now here’s to more of those!!” And I got a few likes. And I got a few loves.
Here’s the thing. Every day is one of those days. Life is perfect regardless of whether or not we see it.
That very day, everything went right. And the best part of my day? The moment when, at Costco, I was walking out of the store with a case of Pepsi, a large pizza, a hot dog, a napkin filled with onions and a cup of Pepsi… and no basket.
Wait? What? What was I thinking? I was thinking, “I’m super woman. I can balance these things. I’ve done stuff like this before. I know I’m going to make it outside to my car pizza intact, and I am going to marvel at how awesome I am.”
As a lady helped me balance the pizza on top of the Pepsi, I thought, “I’ve got this. It’s a little awkward, but I’ve got it.” I had tucked the drink into my purse. I had strategically placed the case of Pepsi in my arms at an angle which allowed the pizza to lean toward my body and I put the plate with the hotdog and onions toward my body so that it was counter balancing the part of the pizza box that was overhanging the Pepsi case. The look on her face was one of trepidation. “You’ll never make it,” it said. And I didn’t care. I do the impossible every day. I could do this.
To be fair, there was a voice that said, “Hey, make it easier on yourself. Get a basket.” And to that voice I said, “Why do I need a basket? I’ve got this.”
And I did have it… You would have been impressed. Heck, I was impressed. And I took about 30 steps. And then the world went into slow motion as I adjusted the Pepsi case to try to get a better grip, and the pizza went doooowwwwn. It tipped so slowly that all of the pizza came out of the box and landed on the nice cold gray concrete floor of the Costco in a beautiful heap of half cheese, half pepperoni pizza. The onions, well, those weren’t so nice. They kind of exploded everywhere.
I bent down, set the Pepsi case on the floor and started to pick up all of the pizza that had fallen into that giant heap, scooping it up and placing it into the pizza box.
And in that moment, I felt embarrassed. I felt alone. I felt the tears start to well up, and I started to shake. In that moment, I was human and I didn’t like it. Where was the kryptonite? I should have had it. I should have been able to get out to my car. It really wasn’t that much and it really wasn’t that far.
Where I’d been invisible a moment before, all of a sudden, there were eyes on me. And two employees rushed to help me.
The employees were super nice. They ran back to the kitchen and had them remake my pizza (I am grateful and didn’t deserve it for my stupidity, but I willingly accepted it because how else do you let good come except to accept it.) and they re-made my hot dog and they got me a new cup.
They immediately started cleaning up the mess on the floor, acting the way I would. Comforting me, telling me it was okay, and finding the positive there – “Look, everything we need is right here. It was waiting for this to happen. We’ve got maintenance people coming to clean this up. Don’t worry. We’ve got this.”
I placed the case of Pepsi on one of the registers and moved the cup of Pepsi out of my purse – miraculously it was still full and pristine – onto the register. And returned to help clean up some of the mess. When I turned around, the cup of Pepsi had tipped and was all over the register and my case of Pepsi. I’m still not sure how that happened.
I grabbed some paper towels and started to clean up the mess from the spilled cup of Pepsi. The beautiful soul who had come over to help me assured me that it wasn’t the end of the world. They could easily clean it up. She told me to go ahead and get a refill on the drink. They would take care of everything else.
I wiped down the case and picked it up, praying that the sogginess was light enough that the case would hold up.
And as I walked toward the door with the Pepsi case in my hand, I smiled. And my heart filled with joy, and I had an epiphany. I am getting ready to go out in the world in a new way. I will have a lot on my plate. Sometimes there won’t be a basket. Sometimes there will be and I won’t use it. Sometimes I’ll think I’ve got it, and I won’t have it. And everything will come crashing down around me…. AND everything will be restored. Everything will be okay. Unseen help will come to aid me. I will be loved. I will be enough. I will be human. And all will be well. Except for the wait to get back to normal, life will go on and I will have what I need. If I listen to my intuition, it will go much smoother. But, I am human. I don’t always listen.
When I returned after putting the case of Pepsi in the car, I was handed a hotdog. It had a bun, and so I had to return it and ask for them to remake it, which they gladly did. The lady at the register asked if I was okay. I smiled and said, “I’m a little shaky, but I’m okay.” She replied that she wasn’t surprised.
In the end, I made it out to my car with the case of Pepsi, the Pizza, the hotdog and onions and the cup of Pepsi (which decided to fall over a couple of times leaving little splashes on the pizza box). AND, I was feeling exactly as I had imagined, grateful to be in my car with my intact pizza, my case of Pepsi and the hotdog and onions.
As I think back on it now, I think about how if I had turned the Pepsi case the other way, perhaps it would have had more surface area to support the pizza. If I had asked for help… there really weren’t any baskets in Costco where I was and I didn’t want to leave my food to go outside to get one. If I had thought about what I was getting myself into… I could have gone in prepared.
The Pepsi case is an odd shape – it wouldn’t have worked, I couldn’t have carried it that way without hurting myself. So, that one is out.
I saw someone off to the side, and I had hoped that she would notice me and come running. But, here’s the thing. I had it, so there was no reason for her to come save me. I wasn’t a damsel in distress in the moment. So for that one – the lesson… Ask for help when you feel like you need it. Don’t expect people to read your mind. Ask for what you need. I had asked a lady to help me put the pizza on top. I knew I couldn’t do that part. There are people around to help you out, but they can’t do it if they don’t know you need it.
So, the reason I left the day smiling – and the reason I know that everything always goes right is because that pile of pizza and onions set me up to make sure that as I step into my new world I know that I have the support I need; to remind me to take the time to think; to remind me to listen to those little insignificant nudgings; and to show me that even if the middle isn’t what I expect, the end will be perfect…Because those things will make all the difference as I learn how to fly.