Stress with Stress

Yesterday I had an amazing day. Great meetings and wonderful conversations.? I also attended a lovely event that set my mood up to the sky!

So far, so good, right?

Wrong!

A storm started in the middle of the event with heavy rain. It is raining season in Thailand, and after seven years of living here, it is pretty standard for me. So I didn’t pay much attention. I was focused on the beautiful wine and all the fantastic women around me. But as Cinderella, the time has come to call a Grab and head to the comfort of my house.

Again, sounds pretty good, right?

Wrong!

After 1000 times trying to get a Grab without success, my heart started to pound a bit. “Damn, how am I getting home?” But again, I still had some wine left, so I just thought, enjoy your wine, and you will be able to find a Grab later.

I didn’t! I never got a Grab!

At this point, I am starting to feel pretty uneasy. And no wine in the World could calm me down.

Suddenly a lady from the Hotel comes and says: “We still have a tuk-tuk that can take you to the BTS! Alleluia sister!!! Hope rose again! And my mood was back to normal! I arrive at the lobby, and no tuk-tuk is in sight. Damn! Really? At that point, I deep breath and thought, “Is anything in my control at the moment?” “NO!”. So I decided just to keep the wonderful chat with my friend, that was also waiting for our ride, and see what happened next. And I am honest. I was not ready for it! The hotel manager asked someone to take her car and drive us to the BTS! Oh my God! What an amazing thing that just happened! I was back on my happy energy!?

I arrived at the BTS all happy! Thinking this was finally over. I received a message from my husband, “The electricity is out, the house is flooding in the back, and the soi in front of us is flooded as well.” Oh, shot Charlie! I got a tattoo on both legs the previous day, and the first thing I imagined was walking in that dirty water, getting an infection, and only God knows what would come next. I need to get a taxi to take me home!

I waited for two hours and a half outside in front of a closed mall, surrounded by many people in the same situation as me. All of them were so calm. Taxis and tuk-tuks were not stopping to take us home because the flood was everywhere in the city. The ones that stopped asked for so much money that it was crazy! And yet, every single person around me was just accepting the situation. They were not in control of it. And I allowed myself to just be with them. We were all in a pretty messed up situation, but in the end, worrying, stressing, and panicking was not going to fix anything; quite the opposite.?

That was so powerful! We were all in a situation that can be super stressful; we were in the middle of a flood with heavy nonstop rain, trying to get home at 23:30, with no taxis, and BTS was closing soon! We were just standing there wet, waiting and waiting for 2 hours and a half.?

But all of us choose not to stress with stress! And that made a huge difference. We enjoyed as much as we could the time we were there. Someone was playing music on their speaker. I practice my Thai with a few people around me.?

I know this is already a very long post but bear with me! Almost done!

I managed to arrive home safely. With plastic bags covering my feet and legs. With water till my knees, I walked on that mini river with other people. But so light and calm.?

Don’t stress with stress! You will only transform a bad situation into a really bad one! And no good solution will come from it, and you will most likely not take any action. You just stay in a loop.

To everyone in Thailand, Su Su!