At 10 years old, as I lay on the bed in our camping trailer, the frozen pack of bacon nearly became cooked and crispy fried and the once frozen popsicles were more like a liquid quilted support pillow from the heat radiating off my body. This was the second time I had heat exhaustion and may I say, it is not fun. It permanently changes your body’s reaction to heat. Like…forever. And get this…I live in one of the hottest cities in the US. Heat affects me differently than those of you lucky individuals who have never experienced heat exhaustion or heat stroke. I get sick. Just a general unwell feeling. Sometimes I will get dizzy or nauseous. I get headaches and unnaturally drained. Also, my anxiousness will occasionally rear its ugly head and I will get a racing heart accompanied by sheer panic. So…when I say that microdosing this fear and sensitivity to extreme heat this week was like finding the fountain of youth, even I think it sounds crazy, but let me explain…
For the past week, it has consistently been 106-111˚ here. Yesterday was my twins’ first day of 7th grade and we decided to hit the beach instead of the books (homeschool and I feel beyond blessed-subject for another post for sure.) We spent a long wonderful day laughing and playing and chasing seagulls away from our Doritos. When we decided it was time to start our 2hr trek back home, as we edged our way inland, the temperature swiftly rose to an inconsiderate 95+ and as luck would have it…our ac decided to stop working. Like…no cold air…actually, almost no air at all, it was barely blowing. I started having thoughts like, “Everyone who said they used to drive like this back in the day is a liar” and “I might actually die” and “Lord help me, these kids can’t see me cry over AC.” All joking aside, I truly did pray. I asked that God let my vents start working again and if it would not, that He would give me the peace and perseverance with a good attitude and the kids comfort to brave the heat and make it home safely. The air did not start working again. So…we rolled the windows down and turned the music up. We sang at the top of our lungs and laughed through stop and go construction traffic on the I-5 while we sweat and laughed. I think it will reside in my mind as one of the most memorable drives home ever. I am not kidding when I say that I felt a nostalgic feeling like I was young again driving around as a teenager with the wind whipping my hair around while I scream sang my favorite songs. It was invigorating and wonderful and I shock myself to describe driving home in 100+˚ heat over the grapevine with no air as “fun”, but it was. It was a total blast. And you know what I think about that? I think it was a choice. I think it was an answered prayer. Logically, there is no reason how I could have been so carefree while so biologically heat sensitive driving in the heat for well over 2hrs in horrible construction traffic with no air vents and no AC, but I decided to try to make it good, asked God to help me with that disposition and low and behold…it was done. My Dad used to always tell me that the thoughts we have are powerful and that the decisions we make in our head shape the lives we lead. I believe him. So much of our reactions are “autopilot brain” decisions where our behavior is automatic and a biologic reaction. Past conditioning plays a huge part in these responses and we create the habitual loops. There’s something called the 10/90 rule which says10% of life is what happens to you and 90% is how you react to it. This basically means that 10% is external and 90% is internal which would be our attitude, coping mechanisms, boundaries and choices. So, what’s the take away? We can be a victim of the AC on the fritz, or we can decide not to be. I hear my Dad’s voice in my head asking me often when I feel like getting mad about something.. “will getting upset change anything? Will it make the situation any better?” Most of the time, the answer is no. It would likely keep theenergy low and the vibes negative. No one wants to be a bummer, right? Focusing on the negative trains our brains to actively look for the negative. We can get bent and angry about something outside of our present control, or we can choose to stay positive or at least neutral. Yeah, call in some support from the big guy. Prayer is powerful and we all need His strength. We may not get to choose the 10%, but with God we can choose the 90%. And maybe that’s the real meaning behind the 10/90 rule-not that we can control life, but that we can control the person we choose to be in this life.
So, for that fountain of youth…roll the windows down, blast the music and let go. Choose to enjoy the ride a bit in it’s all too imperfect perfection.
waddiefromthefarside 
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