What If Everything In Your Life Is A Test?

This has been a very odd week here in Tucson,in several different ways. We’ve had record cold weather - as in EIGHTEEN DEGREE WEATHER, which caused hundreds of pipes to freeze and break all over town. Many businesses were closed and many people were without water. And well the gas company ran out of gas, can you believe that? Thursday morning, we lost gas to our house, which meant no heat, no hot water/showers, and no oven gas. So what was life like here? A cold house, without showers and without hot food. That equates to NO FUN and plenty of crankiness.

We were in good company with our lack of heat – 14,400 homes around Tucson did not have heat this week. The worst part of the problem was that the gas company had to physically come to our home to reconnect our gas service, which meant that not only was our home only 54 degrees, but we had to STAY in our home for 2 days and wait for the gas company. If the gas company came by and you weren’t home, they would not reconnect your gas service. How twisted is that?

This situation created several personal challenges for 3 days:

- The unpleasant experience of sleeping when it was 54 degrees
- The inconvenience of having to go to my gym for hot showers
- The crankiness of Mad Dog who was NOT a happy camper without heat
- The schedule challenge of having to be physically at home for 2.5 days
- The challenge of cooking food without an oven

Don’t get me wrong, I fully realize that many people have much greater challenges and this was only a very minor hardship we experienced. However, this caused me to think about how people react to much greater challenges on much longer timeframes. And I realized that each and every challenge we experience could actually be used to test our commitments, to see how serious we are about our life and our goals. For example:

- Even though I hated the cold weather, was I still committed to living in Tucson?
- Even though Mad Dog was cranky and grumpy, could I still be patient and love him completely?
- Even though I couldn’t cook my planned meals, was I still committed to eating healthy?
- Even though I couldn’t shower, was I still committed to exercising?

As it turned out, I failed at several of my commitments this week – because of this situation I skipped the gym and ate some junky food - like pizza (because it could be delivered). However, I think I succeeded at still loving Mad Dog – I knew that I could still love him and be patient, even when he was grumpy. And for the most part I adapted to the schedule challenge – Mad Dog and I just took turns staying at home waiting for the gas company.

But I realized that almost all challenges we face could be reframed in our life to be viewed as tests, that are simply put in front of us to test how serious we are about our commitments, our goals, and our values. Challenging situations can be used to test us. And they can prompt some powerful reflection in our life. Think about these examples:

- If your exercise partner calls you before your morning run and cancels on you, will you STILL keep your commitment to exercise every day? Or will you use that opportunity to hit snooze?

- If you start your own business and you have a few slow months, and your primary customer cancels their contract, are you STILL committed to building your new business?

- If you are committed to saving 10% of your salary for your retirement fund, and your best friend invites you on a Caribbean vacation, will you STILL keep your commitment to saving 10% of your salary?

- If you are committed to your spouse/life partner, but he or she goes through a rough couple months, causing them stress and irritation, are you still sure you are committed to them?

- If you are committed to cutting sugar out of your diet, but you go to a work meeting where they are serving your very favorite, all time favorite cookies, are you still committed to not eating sugar?

It’s so easy to make a commitment when the situation is cooperating and things are running smoothly. But what about when things are NOT running smoothly, will you still be committed? Do you care enough about any goal in your life to persevere NO MATTER WHAT? Will you allow the challenges you face to reinforce your commitment instead of derail it? I think it’s important that we be aware of our TRUE level of commitment to our goals.

I realize now that if I was 100% committed to my own fitness, I would not have skipped my CrossFit class this week. If I was 100% committed to eating healthier, I would not have ordered pizza when the oven was off. I let the gas situation derail my weekly structure. And while there is something to be said for being flexible and adapting to a situation, I could have adapted AND exercised. But I didn’t - I caved in and used the excuse to be lazy. 

This just shows me that I need to increase my commitment to my fitness and my nutrition. My commitment was insufficient to outweigh the weather challenges. 

However, my commitment to Mad Dog was strong and consistent. The crankier he got this week, the more flexible and patient I became. And loving him didn’t feel difficult or challenging at all, I felt content to balance out his irritation. If this week was a test of my commitment to our relationship, I was 200% committed.

But I think this week has shown me that every challenge can be a gift, when we think of each challenge as a test. If you think about it, everything in our life can be viewed as a test, because everything that happens in our day can be viewed as something which either confirms we are “on track” with our life, or we are not. When we are on track with our life then nothing can derail us because we won’t allow it.

And if everything in our life is a test, then every reaction matters, and every response we have can teach us something. Now the question becomes, are we paying close enough attention to realize when we are on track with our life?