It Is What It Is

I'm not sure when it happened but somewhere along the way I picked up the phrase, "It is what it is." I must say this several times a day....especially when I'm having a bit of a hard day.

I was thinking about this the other day and wondering why I say it so much. And I realized, that for me, this has become and instant reality check. It is what it is...means, these are the circumstances no matter how you got here. So, what are you going to do? It forces me to not feel sorry for myself or get stuck and deal with the situation at hand.

I was tested in this this past week...twice through both of my sons.

As most of you know, my oldest son, Joshua, went on a trip to Los Angels, CA and Denver, CO to perform live auditions for two universities for graduate school. His trip to LA was unique in that he traveled alone and was reliant on public transportation the entire 3 days he was there. Josh never expected to hear from this school. It was a long-shot that he just threw in the mix to say he applied there. To have the opportunity to audition before their music faculty was an incredible opportunity and he felt it went well. He left LA Sunday evening and flew to Denver with the audition scheduled for Monday afternoon. He woke up Monday morning with a stomach flu. He couldn't reschedule. I told him it was out of his hands. He went anyway and 45 minutes before his audition he was laying on a bathroom floor! Somehow he pulled it out of himself. When I talked to him later he said, it wasn't the audition he had planned. I said, "It is what it is, Josh and it will be what it will be." The control of the audition was totally removed from him.

The same day, I got a call around 7:30 PM. My youngest son was 30 minutes away and had an accident in my car totaling it. I knew he was so upset and didn't need me to heap more on him. I once again told myself and him, "It is what it is." Meaning, this is the situation and we will deal with whatever happens with a car and the insurance.

It is what it is. Reality check. Don't feel sorry for yourself. Look at the situation, deal with it and move on!!