This morning started with a plan.
Be at the hospital by 7:20 am for bloodwork and treatment. Get it done. Get home. Check a few more things off the list before we leave for Kenya on Wednesday. Smooth, efficient… my inner planner was pleased.
Except life had its own version of the itinerary.
The bloodwork came back: my magnesium was significantly low. Which meant a 2-hour magnesium infusion. Two hours I hadn’t budgeted for. And not just any two hours — two hours before a big international trip when my mind is already juggling a thousand little details.
And here’s the kicker: finding a vein in me is never straightforward. It’s an Olympic-level sport. Two warm blankets later, pumping and repumping my fists, and three nurses giving it their best shot, I felt the frustration bubbling. My body felt fragile, my plans felt disrupted, and I felt… vulnerable.
Then came kindness.
Mansoud, a nurse with the gentlest manner, chatted with me until I relaxed enough for him to find the elusive vein. Success. And Maria, another nurse, tucked me into a warm blanket with such care that it felt like a hug from a friend. These small acts — so human, so simple — shifted something in me.
It’s in these moments that the paradigm shifts. You realize control is often an illusion, and the real skill is in releasing. In trusting that this pause, this detour, is still part of the journey.
I could have spent this time mentally annoyed at the delay, replaying my to-do list, worrying about what wasn’t getting done. Instead, I chose to close my eyes, let my body receive what it needed, and rest.
Here’s what I’m taking from today:
- Kindness lands deepest when you’re feeling vulnerable. Those warm blankets and gentle voices made more difference than they’ll ever know.
- Paradigm shifts often start in discomfort. I came for treatment; I’m leaving with a new reminder about surrender.
- Magnesium before a big trip might be a bigger gift than packing the perfect outfit. Sometimes the body demands priority, and you listen.
- Releasing control can feel like freedom. The trip will still happen. The to-dos will get done (or they won’t). But right now, I am cared for, I am resting, and I am enough.
Life doesn’t always follow the itinerary you set, but sometimes, it gives you exactly the experience you didn’t know you needed.
