No Attachment

Recently I was at a farmer’s market, and the event had very little attendance. Few attendees mean fewer sales. One of the jewelry vendors, a young lady around 20, came by my booth to ask me if I was frustrated. She obviously was.

Was I frustrated sitting out in the hot sun for multiple hours and having no sales?

Seems like an easy “Yes” and 10 years ago, shoot even two years ago I would have answered the same.

But not anymore.

I wasn’t frustrated at all. I was enjoying my time with the other vendors, catching up on their lives and their business plans, looking at future festivals and events that might work for us.

Am I disappointed I didn’t sell anything?

No. Not at all.

Well, didn’t you expect to sell more than you sold?

This is the tough question for me. I’m all about goals. I love to set a goal for myself and see if I can make it. It has been what always has driven me.

But expectations can be tough on morale when they are not met. And when you do meet them, you expect to meet them each time. When you don’t, well, same thing. It hurts. Could be people, relationships, writing, sales, raises, family. If you have expectations, then you are bound to occasionally not meet them.

So, what has changed in me? For me? Why don’t outcomes bother me anymore?

The answer is simple.

If I believe that everything that happens to me, around me, is for my good, then why would I have attachments to the outcome?

The answer may be simple, but the execution is brutal.

Over the years, I have had to repeat the mantra, “I have no attachments to outcomes” over and over again.

And then, eventually, you just get there.

The other weekend we had horrible weather, and I ended up having to quickly take down my set-up as the storm raged through. Books and rain do not mix. I lost my vendor fee, part of my supplies, and nearly my life as I held on to a metal tent in a lightning storm.

On the drive home, I called my husband and we chatted. The weekend plans had changed. I was no longer at a two-day festival.

“Great,” Tim said. “We can hunker down at the house and watch football. It's been a while since we could just be us.”

Yes, it has been. And it was a great weekend. Not the one planned, but even better because I got to spend it with my husband watching TV and just hanging out

.

The universe looked out for me. I went with the flow instead of trying to direct the flow.

I think maybe I am getting wise.

Crazy, I know.