Day 21: Control

Throwing your hands in the air and saying whatever. Going with the flow. Always making the best out of a horrible situation. As a serious control freak, those are the characteristics I admire the most in people and characteristics I would love to possess. However, as demonstrated by the events of today, I am definitely lacking in that department. I woke up late to class this morning and just threw on a decent pair of shorts to go with my t-shirt that I sleep in literally every night. Still half asleep, I started walking to class and took a wrong turn because I of course wasn't paying any attention to where I was going in my daze. I finally woke up and realized that I had no idea where I was going and I was inevitably lost. I also was already 10 minutes late to class. I decided to just continue walking towards the sun [great tactic I know]. Eventually I saw something familiar and ended up in class just 20 minutes later than I was supposed to be there.

Adding on to my hectic morning, I kept getting a nagging thought to check my bank account just in case. The nagging was probably my stomach growling because I had decided to skip breakfast amidst my aimless wandering but anyway I checked my account. I had a negative amount. Freaking out, I checked the account activity and saw not one but two charges from the train station for my train ticket to Venice. Already in tears, I immediately called my mom who was just slightly annoyed that I was interrupting her at work with my dramatics. I decided to just go to the train station after class and demand a refund... HA!

So after class I go hunting for food and settle with a hot dog from the Conad near the school. I go back to the computer lab to type my paper that's due but all I can think about is the fact that I lost $100 due to a transactional mistake. So I packed up with zero out of 500 words down and left. I stopped again at the Conad to get some food to last me for the next couple of days because I had decided that my days of eating out and gelato were long gone. Then I headed back to my apartment and to the train station.

Upon arrival at the train station, I was hot [it was 90 degrees here today] and beyond irritated. To make matters worse, I explained my situation to five workers at the station and literally no one understood what I was trying to tell them. They all demanded that they see my train ticket from yesterday which was at my apartment of course. So basically I had to walk all the way back to my apartment.

Needless to say, I was fighting back more tears on my walk back to the apartment. I wanted to cry but I didn't want to draw attention to myself so I just made the ugly cry face all the way back without letting any actual tears fall. After crying in the bathroom and to my roommate Meghan, who probably thinks I'm the biggest crybaby in the world at this point, I do what anyone should do when they're in a situation like this. I take a nap.

Twinkling sounds wake me from my 15 minute slumber. I answer the phone to my mother telling me she has it all figured out and the $100 that mysteriously disappeared is now back in my account. My mother, who is not in the same country as me by the way, grew wings and an angelic halo today in my time of need and handled the situation like a boss. Like I should have. So long story long, I got my money back after crying, almost crying, crying again, throwing fits, and giving up on the situation.

I know this was a long story but I said all of that to say this: Things are never as bad as they seem. All you have to do is take a deep breath and handle the situation. Crying never solves anything, in fact it makes the situation worse. Do what you have to do to find a solution and then move on. There is no way for anyone to have ultimate control of the things that happen to them in their everyday lives. However, it is absolutely possible to have control of the way you react to the things that do happen. React, don't overreact. Control what you can and let the rest go. Everything is always going to be okay.

Smooches,
The College Natural