Delays are not denials
Posted on 14 April, 2010 by Chris | 
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Do you know that moment when you find out something you’ve been really looking forward to has been cancelled? You’ve been so looking forward to it, building up anticipation, wrapping up your planning and telling your friends all about it? Perhaps a flight for a holiday, a party, a date with someone special, or a new business meeting?
The let down can be very painful and frustrating, sometimes even “devastating”. Or so it seems in the moment.
Religious views aside, one my more comforting quotes is “God’s delays are not God’s denials” (or the universe’s delays are not the universe’s denials). I was thinking of this today as I just learned my much anticipated business trip to Australia has been ‘postponed’ — that’s corporate speak for ‘probably ain’t gonna happen’.
It was something I had been preparing for for months, a week long training program with great inspirational speakers lined up, fantastic venues overlooking Sydney Harbour and a bonus few days on the end to relax on the beach. Even had numerous early morning and late night calls from Europe to Australia to convince the potential attendees of the value of the week and final got them on board just last week. So the let down of this lastest decision has been hard to take.
But delays are not denials, I tell myself.
Holding on to this thought doesn’t change the situation but it does significantly alter my emotions around the event. I could choose to dwell and indulge in ‘pain and suffering’ from the change of plans (…as so many of us do choose as default), or I can choose to believe that change happens for a reason. That this just means the experience I was looking forward to will be even better when it actually happens; it’s simply delayed, not denied.
When’s the last time you decided to suffer through change? Or stay frustrated when something was cancelled? How could you respond to future ‘delays not denials’. Our ability to manage our emotions in these moments is a gift we all have, and a choice we all make.
Choose wisely. Choose well.
Leave a comment to share with others…how do you cope with ‘delays’
