Slowing down and trusting the process

I liken the past month to a big jigsaw puzzle. So many pieces, and you want them all to fit together perfectly... now. For a while they do but other days nothing moves forward. That's when you feel stuck and anxious, watching the clock while you wait for things to happen. In moments like these, siga siga (Greek for slowly, slowly) sounds like waves quietly sploshing on the beach and serves as a mantra, a gentle reminder to trust, be patient and have faith. For more on siga siga read what Anastasia has to say about it.

The phone rings, and one very long deep breath later, I say “Hello” because if I answer in Greek I know I won’t understand a word. I ask in Greek if they speak English.  The person on the other end keeps speaking Greek.   I hand the phone over to the Greek-speaking friend I’m chatting with and he translates. They want to deliver the new stove, fridge and washing machine in two days’ time. I nod in agreement. Between 10am and 5pm (What??) and confirm my assent. “But no” my friend protests down the phone and then I’m pretty sure he’s telling them that I don’t have electricity and re-sets the delivery date for the following week. He hangs up and only then do I remember I have to teach that morning so the delivery slot is going to have to be changed. I decide to walk down the hill to the appliance outlet and discuss delivery windows with the nice ladies on the service desk and then…out of the blue, the electricity company calls. The  technician is outside my new flat and wanting to turn on the electricity. We agree to meet in an hour. I tell the ladies at the service desk, we all cheer and they ask if I want to change the date again. We all laugh and I rush off to meet a man who literally wields the kind of power I need. As I’m hoofing it across town, I realize the phone call with the technician was in Greek. Progress! I get to the flat, the technician arrives on time and five minutes later I have electricity.  

By then the only piece left is the Internet connection. But no fretting, I tell myself. I have heaps of data to get me by if necessary and it’s time to let go of that need to have everything done now. I feel the call of the beach but decide to get proactive and buy cleaning supplies. I toy with the idea of cleaning the new flat but get busy doing some lesson preparation then a break and an outdoor bazouki concert take up the rest of the afternoon.  I’ll go and do the cleaning tomorrow I tell myself. While making breakfast the phone rings. Uh oh, here we go again. It's Cosmote, the Internet people. A recording tells me what they are proposing and I think I understand which buttons I need to press in order to confirm or cancel but then I can't get the words out fast enough so I hang up. I’ll just go to their outlet on my way to do the cleaning. As I put my phone down, the phone buzzes, an incoming message. Cosmote again. Their text confirms an appointment so I’d obviously pressed the right button. Tomorrow I’ll have Internet. But there’s a catch because I have to stay in the other flat between 9 and 1pm. So I cancel today’ cleaning plans and, in my own way of embracing the siga siga approach to life, I check out an exhibition at the municipal art gallery and then go for a long coffee break because it feels a bit windy for the beach.  I’ll clean tomorrow while I wait for the Internet installers.

The beauty of slowing down is that life becomes less about deadlines and you can focus on the proverbial journey. The puzzle pieces will fit eventually; you just have to let them.

Update: I now have Internet in my flat and the flat barely needed cleaning.