Grab the Gusto

I announced I was moving to Texas. Now I’m announcing I’m not.

Dagnabbit.

I’m not sure if that word originated in Texas or Arkansas or Oklahoma, but the three syllables and hard consonants make that a gusto word. One of those words you can fill with feeling and really roll out there.

So, dag-nab-it.

Not that I’m feeling all that horrible about staying, either. There were, and are, lots of reasons to go and lots of reasons to stay put. So, how’d I decide? I didn’t. My child’s future-vocation decision—-which involves colleges and tuition and programs and a nice girl in English—-did it for me. So, here I stay for the foreseeable future.

I wrote something recently about, “When in doubt; wait.” I took the advice. And the decision was made without my having to make it.

And now there’s another. Should I stay put in this house or go smaller; buy a cute bungalow with a big front porch and a good spot for a bird feeder and a shower wider than the measurement from one of my elbows to the other when they’re positioned to wash my hair?

This decision is a whole ‘nother kettle of fish that has to do with interest rates and housing markets and how many steps it is from my car to the kitchen with an armful of groceries, and that’s all wrapped up in another choice involving career directions and income and trailers in Texas and... well, the only thing it doesn’t involve is fish, so I’m not sure why I brought them up.

On Friday at lunch, a wise, very wise, friend of mine told me I needed to “embrace the wait.” That instead of acting like cats trapped in a burlap bag, I should relax... look at this time as a suspension from decisions... a space where I can be free from doing.

Another friend called today, and when I told her of my Friday-friend’s advice, she said my Friday-friend was wise, very wise. And that while her advice may seem obvious, all of us need to hear it at some time or another because “embracing the wait” is precisely what we believe we aren’t allowed to do. But she couldn’t tell me why any of this would involve cats, so I’m not sure why my Friday-friend brought them up.

Still, you might want to give her recommendation a try. Today, if you face a decision and don’t know which way to go, embrace the wait.

I know. It's not in my nature, either. But, seems to me waiting eventually leads to a serendipitous confluence of circumstances.

Serendipitous confluence of circumstances. Now, there’s a phrase with gusto.