Scheduling Crunches - Chaos vs Calm, We Need Both Aspects to be Fully Human

I'm going to have an hour of "crunch time" today - something that I really didn't need, but have no choice about. DH has an eye doctor appointment at 8:20 am and he's worried about being at the shop in time to open at 10:00, so asked me to be there until he arrives. 

I have my Covid booster shot appointment at the pharmacy near me scheduled for 10:00 am today, and they want me there approximately 15 minutes early for check-in. That means if Chickie isn't at the shop by 9:30 (approximately 15 minutes early for her), I'm going to be running late for my check-in, unless DH manages to be there by 9:30 after his own doctor appointment. What a mess! I thought I'd be home or at the grocery store for my booster shot, instead, I'm several miles to the south, trying to get back to home ground on time. Sheesh! It's no wonder I couldn't sleep well last night. I hate scheduling issues. 

I thought I'd have no problem with a 10:00 am appointment, 
but suddenly DH needed this and that and my wide open 
time slot started compressing. If I miss my appointment and 
have to reschedule, I'll be quite upset. 

I'm one of those people who will be early to almost anything, rather than be late. I have no patience with people who always are late - I run on a perpetual "fast" setting in my life and rarely slow down for much. (Last year's broken foot and ankle certainly slowed me down ... a LOT ... but I was back up and running as quickly as I could.) My cries at birth were less "Damn - get this bright light out of my eyes," and more "pick me up, let me see what I've gotten myself into ... oooooh! There's a lot going on!" 

I'm one of those people who always likes to be early. 
Because of DH's schedule conflict (which I didn't 
know about when I made my booster appt), I'm 
suddenly in a time crunch. Sucks! 

What kind of person are you? Do you enjoy quiet, silence, the slow movement of a creek through a forest copse? Or are you a midtown, city streets with bustling people and myriad sounds bursting upon you? Are you both - switching from one to the other as time and circumstances dictate? One of the major reasons I meditate is I tend too much towards the second, and need to find my center which is closer to the first. I need that inner quiet to deal with the outer chaos.  They both have their beauties, but they are two separate sides and rarely manage to intersect comfortably. 

I use contrast in artwork all the time - it's 
one of the driving forces for any piece of 
visual art. I prefer my life to have minimal 
contrast though. I like to have a bit of 
predictability to offset my creative arcs. 

I'm heading off to the swimming pool. I think I seriously need an hour of quiet and listening to my current "Amelia Peabody" novel while working out. After I get through the chaos of my morning and get the groceries I need, I can settle down, make my next batch of "Ogre Juice" and get the next stage done on my cards. They're almost ready to address and get into the mail, and I can hardly wait to send them out. 

We all need some calm in our lives, but the chaos can 
also be helpful to broaden our horizons and allow us 
to explore new feelings and experiences. We can't 
shut either one off, but we can try to control the chaos 
just a bit. External chaos is almost impossible to 
control, but inner chaos has a chance to be reined in. 

Have a truly excellent day, hopefully a bit less hectic and harried than my day promises to be, and I'll be back tomorrow. Today, reflect on how to get some quiet into your life, or alternatively, how to jazz it up just a bit. We need both sides to be fully human.