Joyfull Amid Crisis
Raise your hand if you’re feeling a little claustrophobic.
Since most of the world is in panic mode, I figured a little humor is always good to keep us lighthearted and to give us some perspective.
I’m going to share a personal story to help you feel a little more relaxed and positive about the days ahead.
A true story about being in a dramatic, sudden, frustrating and overwhelming situation that ultimately ended well, despite many hiccups along the road.
So, without further ado.
Last summer, my husband and I suddenly found ourselves in a pretty awful situation with our home.
Between the two of us, we like to refer to this situation as “moldaggeddon” or in other words…. we had mold in our new apartment! Ugh!!
Being that our apartment was a pretty small space -we’re talking 400sq feet ok-
This ended up being a major issue on so many levels. Because the mold resided in about 50% of the apartment, that meant we would need to find alternate housing for the next few weeks.
Yeah - devastated!
Little did we know, the next month would be filled with mold testing, renter’s insurance claims, hotels and overnight stays with family and friends.
Being a business owner, this also made the whole situation very stressful.
How would I be there for my clients and my team successfully during this time?
How would I manage my current “household” and my work without sacrificing quality?
I knew there had to be some concessions made.
And concessions were coming…
So, my husband and I sat down to talk about our new crisis. Thankfully, he’s my partner in everything so he had some great ideas.
The hard worker in me wanted to stay in town and continue to assist my clients and support my team.
But we decided to do just the opposite.
In a stressful time, we decided to pull away just a little bit from the situation to de-stress.
We hopped on the road and left town…. yup, you heard me right…. we left town.
AMID ALL THE DRAMA WE DECIDED TO TAKE A ROAD TRIP THROUGH CALIFORNIA AND MAKE THE BEST OF A BAD SITUATION.
The hard worker and ever so slightly ocd in me, decided to have a good time but keep tabs and offer back end support to my team while on the road.
I decided to use this as an opportunity to test out my virtual skills.
An opportunity to see how effectively I could manage my team while on the road.
Up until this moment I had never left town while in the middle of client projects.
It was our busy season and was I ready to do the unfathomable?
Yes, it was time.
We decided to do a few things that I had been wanting to do for years but never got around to doing.
First, we stopped off in Laguna Beach to check out the Festival of Arts.
It had been five years since I last visited the art show and I was so excited to return.
I really couldn’t believe it had been five years since my last visit, especially because it’s only 90 minutes from San Diego.
Not to mention the beauty, oh the beautiful art! So glad we made it.
The next day we slowly made our way farther up north toward a long-awaited national park visit.
Yes, we were finally going to Yosemite National Park!
It was my first time and boy was it a sight to see!
If you’ve never been to Yosemite, let me tell you, it will not disappoint.
Breathtaking waterfalls, miles and miles of forest of natural beauty, beyond your wildest dreams.
It really is a sight to see.
WE TOOK OUR TIME, TAKING IN THE FRESH AIR AND FEELING THE PEACE AND SERENITY FROM OUR SURROUNDINGS.
It really helped us to recharge and disconnect from our life back at home.
And, I can’t forget our wonderful stay at a local bed and breakfast.
We stayed a few nights and our host “Elsa” was so amazing.
There was that home away from home feeling, with a vintage touch in her restored Victorian home.
She was so accommodating with our diet…my husband and I are allergic to practically everything, yet she was still able to make us mouthwatering breakfast each morning.
Me at Our Bed + Breakfast in Santa Barbara
IN BETWEEN THE SIGHTSEEING AND ADVENTURES, I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON EMAILS, CONNECT WITH CLIENTS AND MANAGE THE TEAM, ALL FROM MY LAPTOP.
The Wi-Fi was a little spotty but otherwise, things were still on schedule.
A few days later, we decided to head toward the coast to visit my mother in law, in a little town near Santa Cruz called Aptos.
Aptos is lined with sandy beaches and beautiful Redwood trees, a perfect balance for the beach + forest lover.
We spent the next two weeks in Aptos, enjoying the slow-paced lifestyle of all the retirees who live there.
The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park
Thankfully, my mother in law and I get along quite well, so this wasn’t a dreadful situation at all.
Quite the opposite.
And just like our trip to Yosemite, I was able to connect with clients while in Aptos and keep managing projects from behind the scenes.
Me in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park
SURPRISINGLY, NOTHING WAS FALLING APART!
After we left Aptos, we decided to head down the coast and take our time - no plans on where we would be resting our heads that night, totally off the cuff.
We stopped in a little town near Pismo Beach, had some delicious sushi and took a drive on the beach in our car…yes you can drive on the beach, in your car. So cool!
Sushi in Pismo Beach, CA
At this point, one of my clients was feeling a little frustrated about the absence of my presence.
Honestly, I could understand their frustration.
I was out of town on an unplanned trip, my home life was a disaster because of the mold situation, and my communication was there, but not as accessible as it normally would have been.
So yeah, I get it.
But thankfully, with the help of a little technology, a little conversation and plenty of reassurance, they were back on track and feeling better about the whole situation.
The last few days we spent driving down to a few more cities along the California coast.
Our Bed + Breakfast in our hometown of San Diego
And when we finally got back to San Diego, we ended up staying another week in an Airbnb before finally getting settled in.
So even when we were in our hometown, we still felt a bit like we were on the road in our rented abode.
We stayed in a trendy neighborhood and enjoyed some delicious food while we were there.
Seafood Pasta
During this whole time, there was a lot of uncertainty with what was going on with our home and the mold.
After a lot of back and forth with our landlord and the renter’s insurance company, we came to realize that we were going back home to a tight situation.
And without going in to all the messy details, let me just say, things did not go as hoped.
Our home needed much more work than originally thought, and almost all our belongings were either destroyed from contamination or would need extensive cleaning in order to be salvaged.
We were devastated.
Now after having been out of our home for almost a month, we were having to face the reality that not only would we likely be having to replace all our belongings, but we also would be faced with having to move into another apartment…..OMG I want to cry just thinking about it.
THIS WAS SO DIFFICULT…SO UNEXPECTED….SO EXPENSIVE….AND SOOO EMOTIONAL!!!
But -it was real, and it was happening- now.
I didn’t have time to prepare…. I didn’t have time to plan. Just time to act and try to respond in a practical way without losing my mind.
And you know what, the last day that we were in our Airbnb, was the day that we found our new apartment, at an amazing price and an excellent location. It was exactly what we needed after all the madness and mayhem from moldaggeddon.
We moved into a new place with basically nothing and started to furnish our new apartment from the ground up - starting with a new bed and some bamboo sheets to go with it!
BTW if you haven’t tried bamboo sheets, you’re missing out on one of life’s greatest pleasures. Seriously, we ordered some on Amazon for like $50 and it was money well spent.
Things started to settle down a bit and life was getting easier.
At least, that’s what I thought….
Before I knew it, I was dealing with another huge problem just as we were enjoying our new apartment.
For the past two years I had been successfully managing a little health nuisance called a Prolactinoma.
If you’re not sure what a prolactinoma is, here’s a little info from the Mayo Clinic about it.
Boy did this little guy make my life miserable!
Basically, for the next 4 months, my hormones went from cool to #notcool almost overnight.
Just when I thought things would be back to normal, I went on a month’s long hormonal rollercoaster that left me fatigued, emotional and unable to get out of bed.
It sucked!
Bigtime!
Ladies - if you’ve ever experienced the ugly hormone monster, you know what I’m talking about.
I couldn’t go anywhere or do anything enjoyable - it felt as though it would last forever.
But a few months went by and little by little I started to feel better.
My naturopathic doctor put me on some great supplements, and with plenty of selfcare and lots of rest, I eventually regained my strength.
Life went on again.
I can look back at a time in my life where my troubles just never seemed to end.
But the nice thing about trials - especially difficult ones - is that they aren’t permanent.
AS TIME GOES ON, A DIFFICULT AND SEEMINGLY IMPOSSIBLE SITUATION DOES GET BETTER.
The sun shines again, our bodies and mind tend to heal.
We grow and learn how to endure what we never thought possible.
WE LOOK BACK AND THE TROUBLE THAT SEEMED TO NEVER END SOMEHOW DISAPPEARED - JUST LIKE THAT.
I know that so many of you are out there and it literally feels like you’re going crazy in your house right now.
You’re trying to work from home and yet, your kids are demanding your attention.
Your husband, sweet as he is, might be a little too close for comfort now.
Your usual escape from the noise and the chaos is somehow evading you.
But just like those trials that seem to never end - with time, all these situations eventually do come to an end.
You will be able to freely leave your house for some much-needed R + R.
Your kids will go back to school.
Your husband will be off at his job, just as you will be with yours.
Life will go on again.
And when it does, you will look back on this difficult situation and think “that wasn’t so bad”.
You’ll grow and mature, and hey, you might even learn some new and interesting things about yourself.
A lot can happen when your life is turned upside down.
Even good things.
So, cheer up, laugh a little, and enjoy this time you have to tackle a difficult situation.
Look forward for the opportunity to learn something new and don’t take yourself so seriously.
Good times are ahead.
Back home in San Diego
