The quality of our lives depends on how we focus our energy and our attention.
That’s one of my mantras — it goes along with these two:
- Play your part well and let go of the results.
- Stay curious and open to life. No matter what happens, keep learning and growing. Find what you love and find a way to share it with others.
They’re all a part of pulling the weeds and nurturing the flowers.
Yesterday the first one took a more specific form,
Don’t waste your time fussing about things you have no control over.
Andy was starting to complain about our propane company. They were scheduled to bring some propane to the land Thursday, and we were happy about that. The roads are free of snow, and the Forest Service wasn’t scheduled to lock their gates until yesterday. We were relieved we didn’t have to deal with that.
Unfortunately, I received an email in the afternoon:
We are sorry we were unable to deliver your propane on a recent visit because the gate was locked
We are working to reschedule your order. In the meantime, please ensure we are able to safely access the tank. Someone will contact you shortly regarding your delivery.
No, no gate was locked. The fellow just got lost. (We’re not blaming him, GPS maps are notorious for being inaccurate up there.) And phoning Customer Service directs us to a centralized call center, which doesn’t know anything about our area.
We did phone them yesterday morning and asked that the driver contact us when he is going to deliver so Andy can tell him where to meet. They will let us know a day ahead of time, sometime before Monday, and the driver is supposed to phone us when he is on his way. The hope is for Andy to stay down here and talk to driver about where exactly to meet, and assume Andy can get up to the Forest Service gate with the key before the driver gets there. Not ideal, but fingers crossed!
I am asking Perplexity and ChatGPT if they have any suggestions for the future. I will let you know how it all turns out!
January 3, 2026
These words are so good. I’m making a copy of them to keep on my phone. So sorry that there was confusion with the delivery, but you are right…sometimes GPS directs us in the wrong direction. Hopefully you will get that propane delivered with no further issues.
Thanks. 🙂
…Don’t waste your time fussing about things you have no control over, amen sister!
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Being so serene might make me anxious! I does no good to worry over what we cannot control.
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Very good advice!
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Oh, how I can identify with the second part of this post! Communication — or lack thereof — is one of my “hot” buttons, but it sounds like Andy’s all over things.
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An unforeseen thing for sure. Seems like the driver would have known from the company, if they have been your regular provider. Hoping it all goes well!
The last couple of years the driver knew the way. This year the driver is new. And their system isn’t set up for situations like ours.
As my dad would have said, “He’s got a hitch in his getalong.” Hope Andy and the driver can work things out.
Fingers crossed.
Wonderful advice ?
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the words are so true and I believe them. the problem is, I can’t seem to stop fussing over what I can’t control… Most of what happens here is beyond my control. and I know that. Hope all this falls together at the right time..
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Not fussing over things I have no control over is something I’m working on.
I hope all goes well with the next propane delivery. It seems kind of annoying that they would say the gate was locked rather than admit that they got lost.
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I hope you get your propane straightened out.
I like this line, and it goes along with what I am feeling this year:
“Play your part well and let go of the results.”
Sandie
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