Sometimes I find myself consumed with what-ifs. So consumed in fact, that my thoughts have no where to go but straight to panic mode. As I planned for a recent girls weekend, (one that my worry-logged nerves desperately needed) I asked Hubby to help me with getting a load of firewood. My gal pals and I were staying at a secluded cabin, complete with wood-burning fireplace, and the weatherforecast was calling for snow.

After some impressive chainsaw brandishing, Hubby and I had filled a tractor bucket full of logs. When I told my loving lumberjack that I would stack the logs on the flatbed to drive to the cabin, he told me not to worry. He would simply dump the wood right on the truck, and it would be ready to go. Immediately, my internal anxiety alarms started sounding in my head. He asked if I was okay with that plan. I told him all I could picture in my mind were the logs going “sploosh” as he put them on the truck or flying off as we drove down the highway. He firmly but lovingly put his hands on my shoulders and said, “It’s okay if things go ‘sploosh’ sometimes.”

With that statement my tears wanted to splash but, instead, I found a giggle for his use of “sploosh.”

I knew he was right and maybe, just maybe, if I could get over my fear of the potential “splooshes” in life, I could get past the nervousness that has been nagging at me so heavily lately.

Do you ever do that? Worry so much about what could happen that you are miserable?

Why do we do that?

I think a lot of our misery comes for the false idea that things can be perfect. Perfection isn’t something we can attain because we are all perfectly imperfect. While some people or circumstances make certain situations feel idyllic, there is no way to reach a flawless future or guarantee optimal outcome in all of our endeavors. In fact, life would be tragically boring if every situation resulted in utopian success. That is where the “splooshes” come into play.

Life is messy. We can either embrace the significance of the “splooshes” or we can make ourselves crazy worrying about how imperfect they make our existence.

I really needed the reminder that the “splooses” aren’t what matters. They are just a part of the journey.

If the firewood went flying off the truck, I would have to slow down and pick it up. If the bad weather made roads tough to travel, we would have to slow down and get there when we could. I had to accept the fact that sometimes we have to slow down for the messiness of life, and, most of the time, we can overcome the chaos.

If you find yourself consumed with what-ifs or fixed on the potential flaws in your plans, remember, “It’s okay if things go sploosh sometimes.” There is no better way to find success than to get past those “splooshes.”

By: Melanie A. Peters

P.S. The logs did not “sploosh” when dumped on the truck or fly off as we went down the highway.