Yesterday I received a text, from a friend, asking me to attend a movie with her because her son was sick and her spouse needed to stay home with him. I said “yes” and was looking forward to the company and the movie. Except when I committed, I misread the text and thought it was for another day.
I pride myself on being present for my friends, but yesterday, I was distracted. While texting her regarding our movie date, I was on the phone with my mother. She was annoyed that the dinner she opted out of continued on without her. Mind you, she cancelled claiming it was too cold, so her assumption was that no one would go. Then she inquired about when our next outing would be which resulted in a long discussion on why we hadn’t planned anything. Christ on a cracker.
So, I settled in for the night of doing nothing, when the sound of knocking came from the side door. I looked out to see my friend, who I was going to the movies with, standing there. I was excited to see her and not once did I question her presence. Inviting her in, my spouse and I made chitchat with her until my adoring husband says in my general direction, “I think the movie that you are going to is tonight,”. Well, shit. I am not always clueless, but when I am, I own it and wear it like a badge. The badge has glitter on it and is very bold. So, I threw on some jeans, grabbed my purse, and we were on our way.
The gift is that my friend and I laughed about it. While she was confused at first (and frankly, so was I), we immersed ourselves into the movie and amused ourselves with the fact that we now have this hilarious story to tell. When you have the ability to laugh at yourself and embrace being human, life simply has less bumps.
There is no mindfulness in the pool of distraction. While multi-tasking is great, it falls short when I don’t even know what task I completed. One thing that I have learned is that when dealing with my elderly mother, I can’t do anything else effectively. Grateful that I surround myself with people who accept my human condition and can laugh with me instead of at me.
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