Last week I shared with you a way to ameliorate stress by not going down the bunny trail of darkness, evaluating all the “what ifs” that could happen over which we have no control. This week, however, our Abba has provided me with a new twist on another way to look at that rabbit hole.

I am involved in a very complicated transaction that has been going on for over a year. It involves multiple parties in a buy/sell situation and I am just one person on a team for one of the parties. The whole situation has felt as a giant jigsaw puzzle where the moving of one piece can negatively, or perhaps positively, affect the outcome. Although the current configuration of the puzzle can work, it has its drawbacks.

The simplest part of the transaction could have occurred a year ago, but it didn’t. At this point both sides are coming together with a going forward plan and we’re on home stretch. So what happens – HaShem brings to the table yet another party whose involvement at this point could dramatically change the deal. If that would happen, our side would be amazingly blessed.

To start with, I stand in amazement that the one piece that didn’t happen a year ago, and we had been so disappointed, may now serve a purpose we couldn’t even have imagined then. What we wanted to happen would have foreclosed this opportunity, our Abba once again showing us to not take matters into our own hands when we feel frustrated, but rather, to trust Him and the rhythm of His bigger picture.

So to this week’s new possibility – first, it may not happen, and I would accept that as His will, and that there may be a higher purpose served by it not happening. Yet what I find myself doing is thinking what if it did? This week’s what ifs are the absolute opposite of last week’s. Instead of thinking of the parade of horribles, I am walking on air to think of the amazing possibilities if this new opportunity would come to pass. So what are the dangers of such overly optimistic thinking?

I had coined the expression when Sid was going dark on me to not go down the bunny trail of darkness. He does have an expression he has used to describe my tendency to think too optimistically which I will tone down to “Oh no, your unicorn is (passing gas that looks like) rainbows.”

So what if for the next several days I live in complete optimism that this amazing result could happen? First, I intend to act on it by finding out all the possible factual information that could support such a great result. I have actions I can take, conversations I can have that could shed light on the possibility of this result. Without the dream, the hope, I would not even have thought to do so, and these conversations have benefits regardless of the outcome. By seeing HaShem’s Hand in it, or perceiving the chain of events in that way, I am uplifted regarding the project to see an even better result than the one we had before should it come to pass. I can see this possibility challenges us to think outside the box, to consider ways those other than ourselves could benefit, to help us become kinder people who listen to others. Our brains can be expanded to work harder, to find even more creative solutions.

And what is the worst that could happen? I could be disappointed if this new approach, after further analysis, work, and review, cannot come to fruition. Even so, thinking of and working through the process of considering it has made all of those in the transaction more aware of each other’s needs and desires. We have been reminded that His timing is not ours, not only in what didn’t occur last year that makes this new proposal a possibility, but also, in recognizing that if not now, maybe this solution will be down the road. We have been reminded that His timeline is not ours and to leave room for Him in our many tasks, to be content with whatever the result since He is the master planner.

This week’s what ifs brought HaShem front and center in the middle of a project that has been steeped in difficult trenches for many months. No matter the direction the suggestion takes, we have been reinvigorated by His presence.

As you are presented with choices of approach to life’s decisions this week, I encourage you to jump on that unicorn’s rainbows, be in awe of the ride, and never give up hope. He will never let you fall.

Shabbat shalom.
Diane