Being stuck, waiting on something out of my control, has always driven me crazy. 

Two weeks ago, I wrote about the challenge of being human - so infinitely capable, but ultimately, still human. 

I’m getting ready to move to Mexico, which has been true for a year and a half (its own trial of patience). Last week, I traded in my car for the trip, which invited an avalanche of bureaucracy into my timeline. 

It’s tempting to be frustrated, scramble to force things to happen and curse my circumstances (all of which, I did).

But I learned something important. 

When something isn’t going “my way,” something else is happening. There is another, greater force at work - a blessing I can’t see.

Here’s an example, hidden in the ultimate mundane bureaucratic process.

Because I traded in my car, I had to update my car insurance. Proof of insurance is required to import my car into Mexico.

I impatiently emailed my insurance lady over the weekend letting her know I needed to make the switch (and ASAP because in a panicked freakout, I made an appointment with the Mexican consulate for Monday to see if I could even import my car without the new title and registration, which would take the DMV 4-6 weeks to process.) 

She didn’t respond. All day Monday.

I tried calling and leaving a message. Nothing.

Then, Tuesday morning, I get a call back, which I miss because I’m taking my bunny to the vet, another totally stressful blackhole of a task. 

Someone else from their office, James, aka not my lady, sends me a text, asking for the info to process the changeover. I text back everything. I hear nothing for several hours.

I decide, I’m just going to call. James answers, sounding stressed and apologizing for the delay. He just got back from lunch.

“No worries, you gotta eat. It’s not urgent.” I surprise myself with how chill I suddenly am.

He asks me if I still only want liability insurance. “Yes, whatever’s the bare minimum because I won’t even be using it. I’m moving to Mexico and just need proof of US coverage as a formality.” 

“Oh, you’re moving to Mexico?” 

“Yeah!” I’m always excited to talk about it. “The whole reason I’m updating the insurance is because I traded in my car for something that will work better there. I’m driving down there to start my new life.”

“Oh, wow,” he says, “my wife has been back and forth to Mexico and we’re considering living there. But, I don’t know…” He explains how they like it and how life in the US feels backwards, but he doesn’t quite know what to do.

“I just put everything in,” he interrupts himself, “but the computer is being slow, it’s not working for some reason. Sorry.”

I assure him, I’m in no rush. We keep talking. I validate his feelings about the US and how much better things feel to me in Mexico. He asks me some questions about how I’m making the move work, how I got my residency, etc. and I share my experience and enthusiasm for making it happen.

“Okay, it just went through. I’ll send you the proof of insurance right now via email.”

“Awesome. Thanks.”

He asks if I have any other questions and I realize I never asked what the new insurance would cost.

“Actually,” he says, surprised, “the premium is the same. Normally there’s some difference, but it seems like it’s exactly what you were paying. Maybe the computer is malfunctioning, but that’s what it’s saying. Weird.”

“It’s funny, the car I traded in was also exactly the same price as the new one.”

“Wow,” he says, acknowledging the double coincidence.

“I’m telling you, you move to Mexico, you start experiencing all kinds of magic, baby.” It just came out of me. I don’t know why I called him baby. We both erupt into laughter.

“Thank you,” he says. “You’ve given me a lot of hope. I really appreciate it.”

“Thank you, and you’re welcome. You have my number, in case you need any more hope.”

What seemed like an annoying delay yesterday, revealed itself as a miniature miracle on the other side.

We don’t always get to see it. But we have the option to trust that the things we think are happening to us, blocking us, frustrating us, are happening for us or for someone else.

Sometimes, magic just takes a little longer than we want it to.