Adaptability: The Bride Saves the Day with Pizza and Beer

I am often asked by clients how it is that I am able to maintain my perenially “happy day” attitude. What, they want to know, is my secret? And when I really got to thinking about it I realized my happiness is very much a result of my adaptability to life’s challenges. Basically, contentment lies in my ability to turn those proverbial life lemons into lemonade.

In my various professional roles, whether as a minister or yoga teacher, I am witness to very intimate details of my clients’ lives. And it is as a witness that I have learned so much about the art of being human. Time and time again I see that my most content clients are those whom respond to stress with an internal flexibility – they are able to adapt to circumstances with a positive response.

What better example of this than the Bride who saved the day with pizza and beer?

It was a sunny Friday late Spring afternoon in Dallas. The wedding was formal, having taken months of preparation, with dozens of guests scheduled to arrive in limousines, and the various vendors scurrying about as they rushed to set up reception tables and flower arrangements. All the vendors were there with the exception of the caterers.

The first sign of trouble came an hour before the wedding, when the caterers were scheduled to meet the Bride’s mother and they didn’t show. This set off a cascade of phone calls, all of which went unanswered. The minutes ticked by. Guests began to arrive. At thirty minutes before the start of the ceremony there was no food for the reception and no sign of food on the horizon. You can imagine this, right? Formal wedding, 200+ guests, you’ve planned for a year and just confirmed the catering reservation the evening before…and not only was there no food, there were no beverages.

Virtually everyone but the Bride responded to the situtation with anxiety. Everyone including me and I was just there to officiate. At the fifteen minute countdown and no caterers in sight, the Bride ordered pizzas and beer, and that, along with crunchy potato chips, is what we ate at her reception. Dressed in an exquisite ivory gown she laughed and said, “It’s okay. I’d rather have pizza and beer at my wedding anyway since that’s more my personality”.

I have carried that graceful example with me ever since. With her cheerful response to the situation this Bride demonstrated that being able to adapt to circumstances is key in maintaining a general sense of satisfaction in life.