Preface: I am a Type-A personality. I live my life by a schedule. I like to plan what I am doing in advance and feel totally derailed if said plans get messed up, especially if it is out of my control. Which is why I am so proud to tell this story…
Let me tell you about Monday’s swim…
I have been swimming at the piece of shit gym LA Fitness by my house since I moved back home. I typically swim every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6am. The pool is almost always full; there are people in the pool when I get there, more come as I am swimming and there are people getting in as I am getting out. I have found Monday morning to be the busiest day/time for the pool. So whatta ya know…Monday, I get to the gym and there is a sign on the door that “the pool is closed for cleaning.” Seriously?? Anyway, I go in and ask the woman why they wouldn’t give any notice and she says, “we put the sign up yesterday afternoon” which annoyed me even more because more than likely, those who workout every weekday morning, do not go on Sunday afternoons. Oh, and back at Easter they told me the pool was closed because they don’t like to clean on high volume days. Just saying.
Now…typically, I would let this really irritate me and probably ruin my morning. But after a quick pout I decided to take these lemons and make lemonade. (For the record, I HATE that saying!) It did not make sense to go all the way back home (the gym is on my way to work) so I decided to head to the next closest LA Fitness (which was another 15 minutes away!) and do what I could. Even though this meant I would only have 25 minutes in the pool, it was still going to be 25 more minutes than I would have had if I did nothing.
The best part about the whole thing, other than the fact that I kept calm and did not let it ruin my day, was that I really enjoyed my swim. Turns out, I also forgot my watch (another thing I would normally let bother me) and I really couldn’t time myself, so I did a bunch of drills and a little free swimming. It was quite nice, actually.
I am proud that I was able to control my frustration and quickly find a solution to my problem. I know yelling at the ditz reading a magazine girl at the front desk will not help me get my workout done. I know pouting and driving home will not help get my work out done. I know, that sometimes, life throws a curveball and messes with the applecarts. More times than not, I do not handle it well. But this time I did. Yeah for small successes 🙂
Now…if only I could always be that way!
Are you go with the flow or a schedule junkie? How do you handle change in a situation?
**Don’t forget to ask me a question here to help me along with my upcoming 300th post!
Finishing is Winning 
I am totally like you. I forget my watch or can’t get out of work on time or whatever and I totally get all bent out of shape about it! Kudos to you for getting a great workout in!
I am a total type A, too, but I have gotten better over the years at not going into crazy mode when things go wrong. Although, when it comes to my running, I don’t do so well. If I have a run scheduled and I can’t make it or plans/time change, I get really worked up! I’m a work in progress 🙂
Good for you for getting your swim on still!
Good job keeping your cool and way to get that swim in! 🙂
i am such a planner!! you made the best of it, though and 25 minutes is waaay better than nothing!
Way to have that go getter attitude! You went out and got that swim in and made lemonade…way to smoosh those lemons:)
I used to be type A person but I think the older I get the more I just kind of go with the flow:) Our schedules are always changing around here and I am adjusting workouts weekly.
Have a great day Jill!
I am very much a go with the flow kind of girl. I will plan something to an extent, but I don’t get too frustrated or upset if my plans have to change. I’m glad you didn’t let it get to you and got in a great workout anyway!
Way to go! I talk to my students all the time about making good choices and just “rolling with it.” Ha! I am very much a non-planner. When I make plans, something always comes up and my plans need to change, so I just avoid frustration and commitment altogether and don’t plan. That’s very adult of me, I know. I’m glad you got your swim in!
I am a schedule junkie! I like to know that things will happen in a predicable way.
Great job rolling with it.
OMIGOSH I am a schedule junkie. I usually plan all my runs/weight training for the week in advance, and then I’m all… oh you want to do dinner? I could do dinner with you on Wednesday, but that means I’ll have to do my run BEFORE WORK. And then I might SIGH about this sacrifice I’m making. It’s sick, really.
I am somewhere in between. Glad you got in your workout!
I like having the schedule – but sometimes, like today, I just toss it aside and go with the flow.
I am so a schedule junkie, but if I have to switch things around I am okay with it, as long as I have enough notice, like the night before. Given your situation, that would have totally burned me. lol.
Big time schedule junkie and I don’t handle change well!
I can usually go with the flow, EXCEPT when it comes to swimming. That’s a tougher workout for me to schedule because I have to be there exactly at 6:00 am if I want to get a lane. Nothing irritates me more than getting up at 5:30 and not being able to get that workout in.
That said, I am so proud of you for not letting the situation make you crazy and getting your workout in at a different pool. A short swim is better than no swim! 🙂
So sorry that happened to you, those kinds of things bug me because I like my ducks in a row! You had a nice attitude though, good job!
Definitely a schedule junkie, I plan all my workouts 4 weeks ahead and plan everything else around it. I would be annoyed too and I think I would have gone home being angry all day that my schedule was upside down. So good for you that you changed your plans and did go for that swim.
I do have to say that since we’ve got a puppy my schedule get’s messed up a lot and that’s not a bad thing. I find I can handle changes better and better.
I’m kinda a contol freak, but as my kids have gotten older, I think I’m a little less-so. They all ignore me so I’m tired of yelling at myself ;). Great attitude with the swim, girl!!!
we are sooooooo the same on this. I can’t go w/the flow to save my soul! my ex was a big time go w/the flow guy and I like to plan things forever in advance. that should probably tell you why he’s my ex, huh? 😉 but kudos for you for rolling w/it and ENJOYING IT. yay. it’s the small victories, right? 🙂
I’m definitely Type B now, though when I was a young mom I had no choice but to be Type A about everything, including finding time to exercise. I commend you for improvising…I would have sulked all the way back home and seriously considered a new gym membership. Ohhhh, that doesn’t sound so Type B now, does it?
Good for you! I am proud of you! Something like that would have been really hard for me, for the reasons you listed in italics in the intro. Something similar happened to me yesterday that I wanted to blog about but didn’t. My doctor was supposed to meet me at 7:00, before I took the train into the city and he stood me up. I called him at 7:10 and he called me back at 7:25 to tell me he had an emergency. I was fuming until he called. I am not happy with how upset it made me, but I bet you understand 😉 It was just a huge inconvenience to my day, especially since I had to go to work. But I just left my results there and he called me on the phone to review.