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A hack to judo-flip not-fun situations

Last weekend, I ran a 5K — which was a lot of fun — but I was unsmart about my arrival time.

With 45 minutes before the run began, the line at check-in was longer and more labyrinthine than one of those Dune Part Two worms.​ For 15 minutes, we barely moved. People were clearly line-jumping up ahead. Chaos reigned. And it was likely I wouldn’t check in until well after the run had already started.​ I wasn’t a happy camper.​ And I stewed in that mood for longer than I should have, accomplishing nothing but ruining my own time.​ Then I accepted things. (That’s the hack. Acceptance. It’s like waving a magic wand, I swear.)​ In my mind, I quietly accepted that I’d be in line for a lot longer. I accepted that others were line-jumping, which wasn’t fair, but wasn’t going to be my solution. I accepted that I might begin late, but you know what? The timer doesn’t count until I cross the starting line anyway.​ Instead of fighting against something I couldn’t change anyway, I choose to relax and go with it. ​I felt better immediately.​ I started chatting and joking around with the people around me. Fun started happening.​And then… the line started moving. Slowly at first. Then faster. Then downright speedy. Some of the volunteers had wrangled the chaos and it was ah-mazing.​ I got myself checked in with three minutes to spare. And then they started ten minutes late anyway. I had oodles of time, in the end. ​It’s a mystery how this second part works. But it does — often. It’s like the universe rewards us for being chill about stuff.​​ Try it next time you’re annoyed with something at work. We have more control than we think.​
Often, our tendency is to complain. Soulcrushers love it when we complain. It's like food for them. It doesn't help solve the problem and it doesn't help us feel any better, either.​ But acceptance is like a judo-flip for the whole situation. It makes us feel better, which then gives us the clarity and energy to work towards solutions. So, weirdly, by NOT trying to solve the problem at first, we put ourselves in a better position to solve the problem.
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