We’re currently sending all mail to mom’s house since we’ll be moving abroad.
One of our fun and exciting tasks before moving was to get Global Entry cards. What is Global Entry? It’s basically pre-approval from the United States government that we’re safe, low-risk travelers, who can come back into our country with less scrutiny cuz we’ve already been scrutinized via the Global Entry application system. It allows us a faster entry so we’re not always standing in hour-long lines when coming home.
I was really happy when our application was approved and waited patiently for our cards to come in the mail. Well, as I mentioned, mail is going to my mom’s address because that’s usually where we can be found.
After some text messaging last night it turned out that perhaps mom had lost my card as I hadn’t been over there yet to pick it up. I think that image above could have been how I reacted and at some level I did until…
Mindfulness to the rescue.
Hmmm… I immediately felt a bit of anxiety creeping in, however I was mindful of it. I was able to step outside myself and look at the situation from the 30,000 ft view. By noticing that I was feeling a bit stressed physically I was able to reduce the actual amount of physical stress being felt. It’s like it capped it. Thank you, Dan Harris, author of 10% Happier, for this tip. (Awesome book as is his follow up, Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics.)
Team Toaism is up next.
Then, I integrated some Taoism in my head about how “it’s neither good nor bad” which comes from the story about the man with the horse and the son and the war. Things happening in the farmer’s life (I think he was a farmer) could have been judged as bad luck but quickly turned into good luck… because in the end, everything just “is” —- things are neither good or bad.
It reminds me of how traumatic a divorce can “seem” (and should for the most part, I suppose, as I don’t mean to say they can’t be shitty), but when I look back on some divorces I’ve known, years later it seems that everything is better or great. So, was the divorce actually bad or perhaps it wasn’t.
So, back to the missing Global Entry card, I said to myself, “It’s neither good or bad, it just is.” Truly. Try applying that thought process to everything in life and watch the dramatic shift to calmness take over.
My favorite book for Taoism is The Tao of Daily Life. I can’t recommend this book enough.
Then, I asked what’s the worst that could happen.
I realized that the worst that could happen is that I try to figure out how to get another one. I’m sure people have lost these or had them stolen. My situation cannot be unique. There must be a solution. And, even though I will have to add this to my to-do list, I will learn something in the process, namely, what to do when a Global Entry card is lost or stolen.
I quickly projected forward to the future.
I knew that in 6 months or a year, I wouldn’t think twice of this incident so why make a big deal of it now?
Gratitude as a slap in the face.
Then, gratitude slapped me in the face. I took a moment to cherish the fact that I don’t have cancer (or any illnesses is the point). I saw how truly small the challenge of losing a Global Entry card is in the scheme of things. I mean, really, it’s a blip on the radar and should be treated as such. No need to lose my shit.
And, I didn’t.
In the words of Kamea, “Mom, you were like Pete the Cat when his shoes kept changing colors.”
*This image at the top of this post was taken from my iPhone in that part where you can add gifs to text messages. I have no idea who to credit.
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