the magic of frustrating situations...

Photo by Rayi Christian Wicaksono

The magic of frustrating situations...

As I'm laying here tonight, ready to go to sleep-I wanted to share a situation from today.  I know that most everyone has experienced this.  The dreaded customer service phone call to the cell phone company that lasts for hours.  I was fuming tonight as I ended phone call #1 to customer service.  Here, in front of me, was a situation that was absolutely not my fault.  The fault was on the cell phone company.  A $200 charge showed up on our credit card for something that had been returned almost two months ago.  The item that was returned was something that had been sent to us to try and remedy a situation that the cell phone company was responsible for.  I didn't have a good feeling about it, and now I know why.  Without proof of the tracking number for said item, they would not be able to cancel the line or credit our account.  What?!  Wait a minute, I received a box to return the item in, from the cell phone company directly.  It had a prepaid label, with tracking number already on it...but they have no record of it.  What?!  I was getting frustrated.  In fact, I'm pretty sure a new zit was forming on my chin due to the frustration.  On top of that, the customer service assistant was just plain rude and didn't want to try and help figure things out.  I ended the phone call and ate two Chips Ahoy! chocolate chip cookies.       

​Cue phone call #2 to customer service as I remembered that I had taken a photo of the return label because I had that 'bad' feeling about it at the time.  Phone call #2 went much better than phone call #1 because the customer service assistant that answered was so much kinder than the first one.  All it took was a little kindness on both of our parts to figure out a remedy to the situation, and, oh-she informed me that they could indeed track down the return without the tracking number.  After another 30 minutes on the phone with her, we had things back on track and she promised to call me in 3 days to ensure that the credit had gone through on our end.  That was good customer service.  I recognize that the first customer service assistant could have been having a bad day, I do.  However, I gave him every chance to try and help me with the problem that the company had created for me.  He had no desire to help.  His response was simply, "I can't do anything for you without the tracking number."  Over and over again.  No budging or solutions on his end.  

Yesterday, I had to contact a business that I purchase supplies for my malas from because I received an incomplete order.  When I contacted them the first time with compliments on how nice the beads were, but followed with the fact that there was a problem with my order-I got a 'sorry for the inconvenience, but look in the package closer because sometimes people throw away things on accident' response.  No apology or promise to check things on their end.  Hmmm.  It wasn't outright rude, but there was certainly a tone that alluded to the fact that this was my problem, not theirs.  So, I did as asked and looked through the entire package for the missing things.  Nope, not there.  Definitely not there.  I took pictures of the items and the inside of the package to ensure that they were seeing what I was seeing.  I sent the pictures in a response email with the suggestion to check around their work space to make sure the items hadn't been forgotten.  Today, I received a reply from a different contact person with a much kinder response.  He said they would get the missing items shipped out to me immediately and that he was sorry for the inconvenience.  That was good customer service.    

Why is it that we automatically assume the worst of people, or that there is nefarious intent in every situation?  A gesture of kindness goes a long way.  A simple check-in with ourselves to make sure that we aren't reacting to a situation out of influence from other things we've dealt with during the day.  Instead of automatically reacting to a situation, an email, a text message, etc-stop and take a breath.  Try not to take offense to every little thing.  Everything could be considered 'offensive' in one way or another.  Let's just take a break from being so offended all of the time. 

Mercury is in retrograde right now and communication breakdowns can happen.  That's why it is even more important to try and take a minute to assess before reacting.  I wanted to reach through the phone and flick customer service assistant #1 on the nose to wake him up to his behavior.  I had to check myself before calling back so that my frustration with him wasn't taken out on the next person.  I was all prepared for confrontation when I called back.  Instead, I was confronted with genuine kindness and understanding.  What a breath of fresh air!  Same with the second situation, I was prepared for having a similar response email after sending the photos, instead I was met with genuine kindness and understanding.  What I was prepared for, and what I was expecting to confront were two different things.  I was preparing for the need to be defensive, but expecting solutions to the problems.  What I expected is what actually happened.  It just took a bit of patience and awareness to flow in. 

Now that I have explained all of that, I have completely missed the point of this post.  The most important thing that happened during the very long phone calls to the cell phone company was that I cleaned out the inboxes to two different email accounts while on the phone!  A situation that was frustrating the daylights out of me, led to cleaning out a lot of crap from my email that had been sitting for a long time.  Some of the emails I had been saving from long ago brought up other not-so-fun feelings.  Deleting and cleaning those out of my life is exactly what I needed.  All of those old wounds that needed cleaned out and released happened due to the fact that I had to deal with a situation that kept me rooted to my phone and computer for several hours.  Imagine that...a situation that was deeply irritating and frustrating just helped me release situations from my past that I hadn't been ready to deal with before.  That is part of what the Full Moon and full Lunar Eclipse is trying to get us to do.  Open up those old wounds, release the energy associated with it and let the light in to heal it. 

Where is this happening in your life right now?  What old wounds have reopened so that you can let the light in to heal them?  What situations have arisen that are trying to send you a message to make the time to see those wounds?  Look for the magic in frustrating situations.  How are they trying to help you?  

If you're unsure of how this could be manifesting for you, please consider scheduling a session with me.  This is what we do-identify energies that need released and look at where things need to shift so that you're able to move forward in life with confidence and peace.  We want to heal old wounds, not cover them up so that they can fester. 

Love and Light~
Mandi