I wrote a post called The Gumbo back in February 2017 and another called Those Constant, Background Gumbo Ingredients shortly thereafter. Those are great, and they’re very useful to understand for any of us humans. But this one has nothing to do with them, this one actually has to do with real gumbo. And more importantly, it has to do with the intelligent, connected universe and surrender. You see, I wrote about The Twelve Minute Session! recently, and it was a great story about a client and what he was going through. There’s another side to it, though, which is about me and what was going on in my life at the time. Think about this as what they call lagniappe over in Louisiana and beyond, which basically means “a little something extra.” Because it’s nothing earth shattering, but it’s just sort of cool and worth sharing. Here we go…
So this was a Friday afternoon, and I was leaving straight from work and driving a couple of hours away to my friend’s annual birthday weekend on Bay St. Louis over in Mississippi with a bunch of old friends from New Orleans. They’d be arriving shortly after lunch, so I was itching to leave as soon as I could. And I could’ve done a better job of scheduling myself off that afternoon, since I’m my own boss and all. My boss is such a jerk… So this was my last session of the day, and I had a thirty-minute window before it, in between sessions. I’m always in charge of bringing the gumbo to this affair, and I get it from Captain Joey Patti’s Seafood Deli, which is run by my good friend Charlie. I love this guy! He’s so awesome. And this place is not to be confused with Joe Patti’s World Famous Seafood Market next door; they’re relatives, of course. Hey, I always have to plug lovely Pensacola…
So I’m picking up a gallon and a half of frozen gumbo, which means it should be put on ice right away. I had a tight window to pick up the gumbo, take it home and put it in the freezer, and then come back to the office to do the final session. Then I’d go home, grab the gumbo (and some shrimp that I already had on ice), and roll. And the final session was with a new client, so I thought it would be 90 minutes long (or close to it). So the gumbo really did have to be taken care of in that half hour window. But not according to the universe!
It was a bit busy at the restaurant when I got there, so I was delayed in getting the goods and paying for it all. They did nothing wrong, it’s just a popular place! And Charlie’s not always there, but he was, and as I was getting ready to leave they called him up to say hi. So we were catching up, and he’s super nice, and he always puts extra fish and shrimp in my gumbo. I get it for a family feast over the holidays every year, too, so there are usually two times a year when I’m getting at least a gallon. Anyway, I can’t just say I have to leave, because that would be rude. Plus he’s super nice and he’s my friend, and I like hearing what he’s been up to. He has some cool projects going on that I’m legitimately interested in. The moral of the story is that there’s no way I’m going to make it home and back to the office in time for that last session. And this was made crystal clear, too. No way, no how, no chance. The entire universe is saying that I’ll be driving back to my office with a bunch of frozen gumbo, it’s part of the plan, and I don’t have to know the plan. This was all so clear. And it was super interesting that I knew what was up while it was happening. I didn’t know why or even necessarily like it, but I knew what was up.
So I get back to my office, and I don’t have many options. A hot car in Florida in June isn’t the best place for gumbo, so the best I can do is put it inside the office, behind my chair where my client won’t even see it. So I put it there. It’s frozen so it should be fine, and even if it starts to thaw it’ll be put on ice right away and all good. But still, I have no idea why the gumbo had to be handled this way. I did know, however, that I had chosen the best option out of those available. What are your options and which feels best? That’s how we go through life. And the gumbo would be fine until I got to my friend’s house anyway, so all good. Still, though, I was curious. Then fast forward twelve minutes, and we’re done! Ahh, the universe was saying don’t worry about it, this session won’t even last very long. In no time flat, I’m driving home to get the rest of my stuff and roll, and more than an hour ahead of schedule at that. Hilarious. That sneaky universe…
NOTE: This bears repeating… that we’re learning to live our lives by staying as relaxed as possible. And when situations arise, we look at our options. And we choose the one that feels best. And then we keep on rolling. Wash, rinse, repeat. What are my options? Which feels best? Done. A+
I think I told my client this back story to illustrate the intelligent, connected universe (ICU) and how it works. And off we both went on our own adventures. And the weekend was awesome, nobody got sunburned, and we had a great time living “the bay life.” Or should I say #baylife. So there you go, you never know why the gumbo might have to sit on your office floor, but there’s always a reason. And the more we let that reason come to us, the better we feel and the smoother life becomes. Because we aren’t fighting it and questioning it so much. And as these experiences pile up in our lives, we begin to have more and more of a trust, a calmness that of course it’s working out how it’s supposed to. Always. And by gently practicing what we talk about here at A Clean Mind, we’re well on our way.