The Roast That Became Monday’s Dinner
(A reminder that flexibility might just be the secret ingredient to stress relief)
Sunday Plans, Shifted Schedules
Sunday roast in our house is usually the anchor of the week.
It’s the one meal that says, “Right. We’ve made it through another week. Everyone sit down, let’s eat.”
But when you live with a teenager who works shifts in a restaurant, that routine isn’t as straightforward as it used to be.
Recently, my daughter asked if we could eat earlier on Sundays so she’d have time to see her boyfriend afterwards. Fair enough, I thought. A bit of organisation never hurt anyone. So I planned my whole day around having dinner on the table by 6 pm sharp. Potatoes peeled, chicken stuffed, timings mapped out.
Except this Sunday, she walked through the door later than expected - already full. Her shift was really busy, she’d missed lunch and ended up eating with some of her favourite customers at 4 pm.
So the roast I’d spent hours organising? Suddenly not wanted at all.
For a split second, I felt that familiar flare - the “are you kidding me?” moment. I could’ve gone down the I’ve spent all afternoon cooking! route. But instead, I took a breath and saw it differently.
It turned out she’d been given an unexpected Monday shift (her usual day off). I had a packed schedule too. So instead of frustration, we ended up with a ready-made roast for Monday - no prep, no stress, no washing-up mountain. Just dinner sorted and us fed very well for a Monday.
When Plans Go Sideways (and They Will)
Life loves to test your sense of order, doesn’t it? You map out your day, you think you’ve nailed the timing and then…… curveball.
Kids, work, weather, traffic, someone else’s emergency. Something always fails to get the memo.
It’s not the change itself that throws us off.
It’s how tightly we cling to how things should go.
I used to think being organised was my secret weapon against the chaos.
Turns out, flexibility is far more powerful for stress relief.
When you loosen your grip, the world opens up. You start seeing possibilities instead of problems. Dinner becomes lunch, a delay becomes a pause, and an unexpected detour becomes a chance to breathe and enjoy.
The Tightening Moment
You know that feeling when plans start slipping?
The internal tighten.
The sigh. The mental eye-roll. The “well that’s just great” soundtrack playing in your head.
That’s when stress sneaks in, not when things go wrong, but when you resist what’s happening.
For me, it was standing in the kitchen, looking at a full roast not needed and catching myself before the frustration took over.
Because that’s where the choice sits:
You can spiral into annoyance.
Or you can flex, shrug, and say, “Well, that’s Monday dinner sorted.”
One keeps you tense. The other offers instant stress relief.
Everyday Curveballs (Because Life Doesn’t Care About Your To-Do List)
It’s never just about dinner, is it?
We all get hit with these little moments:
The family plan that changes last minute
The work project that moves the goalposts just as you’re done
The friend who cancels when you’ve already washed your hair
The traffic jam that eats the time you’d set aside for calm
Each one is an invitation to practise flexible thinking for stress relief - the quiet art of not letting the small stuff steal your peace.
It’s not about being endlessly chill or pretending nothing matters.
It’s about staying soft enough to bend without snapping.
The Upside of Flexibility
Flexible thinking doesn’t just keep you calm - it conserves your energy for what truly matters.
When you stop fighting reality, you gain clarity.
When you stop overreacting, you reclaim capacity.
And sometimes, like my Sunday roast, you end up with leftovers that make life easier later.
Because stress relief isn’t always found in bubble baths or long walks.
Sometimes it’s in simply letting go of how you thought things should be.
A Thought for You
This week, notice the moments you start to tighten up - the sighs, the frustration, the “but it wasn’t meant to go this way!”
Pause. Breathe. Then ask:
“What’s another way to see this?”
Because sometimes the roast that didn’t get eaten on Sunday…
turns into exactly what you needed on Monday.