Right Place, Right Time
Conversations with my beautiful grandmother often brought me kindness, compassion, wisdom, and a whole lot of sass. She was also powerful to boot! She once shared a quick little tale about how she navigated a Puerto Rican hurricane. She was happy because the house remained unscathed and standing despite high velocity winds and rain. “I told Jesus to make that tree fall on the street and not the house. Then He would have the tree go up the street, miss the house entirely and stop at the end of the block without damaging anything.” Then she remarked very matter-of-factly, “And it happened just like I said.” Mama Tere taught me to step into my power and just make things happen!
Embedded into her teachings was yet another nugget of truth. She would often speak of getting yourself, or someone else, out of a bind or “sacar de un apuro.” Helping someone get out of a bind can be a wonderful gift to give to the world and this really came true last month. I was emailed by the director of my local chamber of commerce. The speaker for the monthly breakfast meeting had to cancel last minute and she asked if I could possibly fill in. The answer to that was a resounding yes! And I told her I could do even better than just fill; I could bring two other doctors with me. We offered the talk “From ashes to resilience; managing stress and strengthening community after the LA wildfires.” We did a little breathwork, spoke about the ripple effects of the LA fires with how we all are impacted in different ways and offered different stress management techniques. It was a beautiful collaborative effort where we offered support to the community by also hosting a small community event a few days later. The audience was engaged, and the chamber was supremely grateful to us for stepping in at the last minute. We got them out of a bind and it was fantastic! It felt good to be at the right place and the right time to be asked to speak at this event. I was on their mind because I have been emailing them, attending meetings and attending local community events. If we believe we are lucky, we are indeed lucky. And being out there and in the community can create a situation where we are at the right place and right time! With this, we are giving a boost to our luck and creating a win-win for all!
