Just Have to Say

A recent family photo

I have a variety of perspectives on my timelines/Google Reader etc. and that's what I love about social media: being exposed to so much in such a quick and organized way. 

A while back I applied to a once-in-a-lifetime blogging opportunity with little faith that I'd be selected and when I wasn't selected despite their mumbo jumbo about not necessarily selecting the biggest, most successful bloggers for the opportunity, in the end that's exactly who was selected. 

I've learned not to be bitter about such things (you can read about that here) and Chronicle of Pookah's Mom (aka Rose's Daughter) had a post a while back expressing her thoughts about such disappointments that got me thinking. 

Later when my Grandma Emma passed away I realized had I received that blogging opportunity I wouldn't have been able to complete it. Talk about bigger picture. God had me in the right place at the right time. 

This has happened to me before when Mr. Love Bird's mother passed away suddenly on Christmas Day 2005. I had a direct flight going from Boston to Columbus, where my family lived at the time but on the way back, the day after Christmas, for whatever reason I could only find a flight with a connection. I was frustrated but purchased it anyway. The bittersweet truth was that as a result with my layover in New York City I was able to be there for Uka and his family soon after his mother's passing. Again, God had me in the right place at the right time.

It's so easy not to see the forest for the trees, get envious of others and the like, but Glossy Mimi's recent post over at Lipgloss and Binky really spoke to me especially this part:

"What’s real to one person isn’t another person’s reality and the REAL is not everyone lives a sad and awful life, some of us are living and rolling with the punches no matter how hard they hit…I don’t know about y’all but I bobs and weaves in my skinny jeans and wedges…and I don’t care what anyone thinks about it."

As I posted in Rose's Daughter's comments on the post mentioned above (my full comment was much longer but you can read it on her post here): 

Overall, I always remind myself that I have no idea what is really going on behind the screen. As an example, Young House Love which is wildly successful has “pulled back the curtains” at times to give details about how much time/effort goes into their blog and seriously, I wouldn’t trade what I have right now for any of that as much as I like their blog. 

I’ve found that keeping my nose to the grindstone and not changing who I am to garner followers has worked best for me. With anything I’ve noticed if I try too hard I don’t get the desired results but awesome opportunities/accolades/success comes my way when I’m hunkered down with tunnel vision.

I've been journaling since I was 7 years old. That's nearly 25 years of journals. What's wonderful about it is I've been able to look back and put things into perspective and bring this Bible verse amazingly to life: 

"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." - Romans 8:28 NLT 

Have you had a situation when you were in the right place at the right time? Also, how do you deal with disappointment?

P.S. Afrobella had a fantastic post recently about dealing with disappointment. This line especially rang true for me: "Lesson number TWO – don’t share what might happen. Share what HAS happened." You can read her full post here. I highly recommend it!