Back in May, I signed up for my next 300 hours of yoga teacher training.
In November, I’m going back to India to the ashram where I did my first training nine years ago to continue my studies with my teacher.
The time is quickly approaching, and I’ve been mired in logistics for the last few months. There were books and supplies to buy, homework assignments to complete, and travel arrangements to make. That included a visa to apply for.
I debated for awhile about whether to try to apply at the Indian embassy in Colombia, or if I should return to the States and apply here. It was a tough decision, because I was in the States already for most of this year and I didn’t feel ready to leave Colombia just yet.
Ultimately, it seemed like less trouble (and maybe even required? for all the details on these websites, there is still plenty that’s unclear) to return and apply here. So I flew in last Friday and set immediately to work on the application on Saturday morning.
Then the setbacks hit.
I got all the way through the application to the point where I could print it out to mail it in, and I got an error saying something was incongruous. I had to wait until Monday morning to call.
So I did, dialing in as early as possible. It was an easy correction.
On Monday, I spent a couple of hours completing the application and printing it along with all the supporting documents. As I was reading the document checklist, I noticed a little detail: my driver’s license had to be valid for six months. Turns out, mine’s expiring on my birthday this year.
I called the DMV to see whether the online renewal or in-person renewal would be faster. In person, by far. But my permanent address is in South Dakota, and I was in Denver with plans to go to South Dakota on Thursday night.
I made an appointment at the DMV for Friday morning. THEN I had to gather OTHER proofs of address to give to the DMV, which is difficult because I have a rural address. This means my physical address is different than my mailing address, which is what is printed on every official document ever mailed to me.
Time to get back on the yoga mat, right?
At one point on Tuesday, my boyfriend’s mom asked me how I was doing. And I was somewhat surprised to say, “Pretty well, actually.”
I’m definitely on a timeline here. I came back to the US with six weeks, which I felt was a decent-if-pushing-it amount of time for the visa to be processed (as it took four weeks the last time I did it). With these setbacks, I burned through an entire week without even submitting. There’s a lot on the line, in the plans I’ve made and the money I’ve spent so far to do this. By all accounts, I could have been fairly stressed out.
But I was doing pretty well, actually.
I didn’t let myself get caught up in the panic. Instead, with each setback that presented itself, I looked at it as simply another step that had to be taken in order to apply.
Of course, there’s that nagging notion that it might not get processed in time. But when that thought rears its ugly head, I remind myself of a few things:
- If the worst happens and I can’t go, it’s not the end of the world. Lost time and money, but it’ll be okay.
- The worst won’t happen. Most likely, the visa will process and be approved in plenty of time.
- All is well.
Really, #3 encompasses the first two, but sometimes I really have to spell it out for myself.
What it comes down to is that the worst case scenario of not being able to go because I didn’t apply in time would be frustrating, discouraging, saddening, and somewhat embarrassing…but it would be okay.
I’m as guilty of this as anyone: sometimes, we get too attached to the outcomes. Sometimes, we need to take the steps, do what we need to do, and then see what happens. And that’s all there is to it when it comes to managing setbacks. They’re just steps we didn’t see at first.
So that’s where I am now. Stressing out isn’t going to help. I did all I could do with the circumstances I was in, so now I wait. And do lots of yoga, because calm, stress-free waiting is easier said than done.