Late

Today was one of those days… you know, the kind of day where you are just certain that five more precious minutes of sleep will be just what you need to spring out of bed in glee, ready to approach to the waiting world. “Just… five… more… minutes…”

I am not a morning person. I am a wanna-be. I get up with my husband at 5 a.m. and hit the gym (on a good day), but let me assure you, I do not speak at that insane hour of the morning. And lest you assume I must therefore be a night owl, let me also clarify: I am not. I would be perfectly happy if my life allowed me to go to bed at 10 and wake up on my own (sans alarm) at 7 a.m. every morning. Something about a beautiful nine hours of sleep free of a wretched alarm clock… my body craves it.

Back to my five minutes.

I’d be fooling you to say it really was only five minutes. It was several desperate five minute post-waking naps before I finally hauled myself out of bed and into the shower (no gym, my five minutes lasted too long). It was a battle of the minds to stay awake as I initiated my morning routine of sipping coffee while watching my favorite cable news network for the nation’s happenings and for any sign of my dear friend and favorite correspondent, Carine-Bean.

When I finally made it out the door, my 8 mile commute was abruptly interrupted with bumper to bumper traffic. This is not unusual in the Chicagoland. My daily 8 mile journey takes an average of 25 to 30 minutes each day. But today was different: I was late! I had no time for traffic! Someone forgot to send the memo, and I was ticked.

I decided promptly that I would not let the traffic get the better of me, and like any intelligent person, I turned off onto an innocent side street. I sailed for about a quarter of a mile before I was brought to a screeching halt.

Train.

Not just any train.

Slowest......... Longest......... Train......... Ever.

Seriously?!?

Teeth clenched, arms crossed, and lips pursed, I sat waiting for a morning’s portion of eternity until the train passed. Then, because we hadn’t been waiting long enough I suppose, “friendly driver guy” ahead of me decided to let every car from the cross street in front of us into the line of traffic ahead of him. You know the guy I’m talking about, (and yes, he was very kind, but he didn’t get the memo either). I AM LATE BUDDY! And we have stop signs for traffic regulation, so enough with your friendly antics!

I was in rare form. (And by this time, I was certain I could have made it to work in a more timely fashion had I just sat in the traffic jam). The traffic, train and friendly driver guy had ruined my morning. Or had they?

Oops.

It’s never fun when our own choices come back to bite us. Not only was I not the best version of myself this morning, I was the perpetrator of my own tardiness (you already knew that, I know), and it was up to me to deal with it. Not the most advanced lesson in life, but it got me thinking about how quick we can be to hold out anger and frustration at others for situations that are actually a beast of our own making.

A relevant reminder, and a lesson in ownership for sure.

Of course, if I’d had just five more minutes of sleep, I probably would have been fine.