My Control Key Quit Working

02 Jul My Control Key Quit Working

I spent all day yesterday helping my daughter move to a new apartment. Cleaning bathrooms, hanging up clothes and shower curtains. Got home at almost 11pm, dog tired. I allowed myself to sleep til almost noon, something I don’t remember doing since my 20s. I woke up still groggy.

Coffee in hand, I stumbled to my desk to check email. As I set down my mug, I spilled coffee all over my keyboard. My brand new $70 Apple keyboard. I got a quick hint that it was going to be that kind of day.

After cleaning it all up, looks like the only thing not working is the control key.

The control key. Hmmm. A blog post. One I’ve been meaning to write for months.

As I near 60, I’m finally owning up to the fact that I’ve been somewhat of a control freak all my life. I was raised to be independent – to be the author of my own life. I was trained early on to control my future by saving, working my way up the ladder, and setting goals. All good stuff.

But relying on others has always felt like a weakness to me. Shit happens only to those who don’t cross all their t’s and dot their i’s. Nope, you don’t live life allowing things to just happen, hoping for good to come your way.

I’m now realizing that some of my most fulfilling moments have come in the last year when control was ripped out of my hands, when I lost the reins to my own destiny. My beautifully orchestrated stay in NY spun out of control when Parsons called and cancelled my class. Phew, to think what I would have missed had they not done so! I would’ve never walked every square mile of the city I love so much. I would have never learned social media with such first-hand experience. I would certainly have never met Lee Woodruff on twitter and been asked to be feature story on her blog.

It feels good to be more spontaneous, more daring, and more open to the surprises out there. I continue to be pleased with the returns.

Yep, spilling coffee on that control key is the best thing that’s happened in a long time. I just wish I had spilled it a long time ago.

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In 38 days I leave for my 30-walk across Paris. If you’d like to follow along, be sure to sign up for email alerts or join my Facebook page. I plan to find some real surprises while there – stuff you never read about – and I’d love to share them with you.