Flexibility.

I know it's been awhile. That's mainly because this semester has been absoutely crazy busy. Every semester I try and lose some obligations, but somehow the ones I keep become more demanding! I'm learning a lot from the things I'm involved in, so I guess that is the silver lining of being super involved!

Something I've really been challenged with this semester is learning to be flexible.

Things don't always go as planned. That's just life. I've been learning it makes things go so much smoother if you can adapt to change and go with the flow. I got a lot of experience with this over this past summer while working at Wild River Country. Being an admissions lead was very challenging for me. I constantly had to be ready to change schedules if employees called in, troubleshoot any kind of technical or guest problems, rely on my judgment to make decisions and deal with unique situations every day. A lot of times I simply had to work with what I had and deal with things the best I knew how. Making the best of the situation at hand. That doesn't mean things were always handled perfectly. But I had to make decisions and then move forward.

I think a big part of becoming more flexible has been recognizing that my way is not always the best, and not always necessary to accomplish tasks. "Teamwork makes the dream work" is a topic for a whole separate post, but it is so relevant to being flexible. It's not always easy working with others. I may think my vision for a project is the best, but that's not always true. I may have good ideas for some things, but two heads are better than one in almost every situation. I have learned to value consensus a lot more.

Another essential part of being flexible is having patience. I am the type of person who likes to start something, focus on it and finish it. I hate having to drag things out. I like to know they are done and move on to the next task. It's a struggle for me if I don't feel like I'm doing things efficiently. But realistically, life isn't always efficient. Patience is the glue that holds it all together.

When I was here for New Student Retreat in August, I saw this quote in Amy Wentz' office:

"Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape."

It is one of my favorites. I think flexibility is a characteristic relevant to all aspects of life. It's fundamental to successful relationships with family, friends, coworkers and spouses. It's an essential tool at work and at home. It's crucial to a relationship with God. We have to rely on His will for our life, and that means willing to be flexible with our own plans in order to serve Him.


Be flexible. You might just find you enjoy things more that way.