Thankful

Yesterday my trip from Gainesville to Bradenton took 8 hours; A tad longer than I was expecting. Around Tampa traffic started to become congested and I was forced to slow down. I was making pretty good timing (as usual) so I was a little bummed. As I slowed down I noticed that my car was riding rather wobbly. I thought I for sure must have had a flat tire and was debating whether I should just change it on the side of the road and impress all of the people driving by on I75 or get off at the next exit. I didn’t want to distract traffic so I decided to get off an exit where after assessing all four tires came to realize that none of them were flat. I then used my better judgment and traveled down Fletcher until I found an auto service center that could help me. It took me three tries until I found a place that could help me…all hail Tire Kingdom!!  Turned out that my back right tire was separated and was very dangerous to be driving on. Cool, good to know. There was a noticeable sized lump in the tire. A terrible case of tire tumor :(

Anyway, so Andrew at Tire Kingdom took care of me and replaced all four tires and my front brakes while he was at it. During the 4 hour wait I ventured down the road to find some lunch. I jay walked (ran) across Fletcher and came upon a little Persian market and had lunch with myself and John Wooden as I read his book. I felt like I was on my own little adventure.

The advertising of a belly dancer drew me in so when there wasn’t one I was slightly let down. My shish kabob gyro was still delicious minus the couple bites of cold meat.

Here's what I gained from yesterday aside from new tires and Persian cuisine...

As I was presented with the unexpected I was consciously making sure to not get frustrated. When I woke up yesterday morning I would have never known that this was how I would be spending my day. I was on a schedule to leave at 9 am and be home at 12 pm for a scheduled beach date with my mom. That was the plan and I was sticking to it. I had been picturing myself on the shores of Anna Maria Island, burning my ginger skin, and bonding with my mom for two days. Then life threw a little curve ball at me that I never could have planned for.

When things don’t go as planned negative emotions tend to creep into our minds. I’ve been a victim of such emotions on multiple occasions. Those who know me well know that I have a hidden Irish temper that comes out of nowhere sometimes. I’m working on getting rid of that side of me by searching for the good side of situations. As soon as there was a little damper in my plans I just kept telling myself that it was all meant to be and that it was all good.

After being told by a mechanic how dangerous my tire was to be driving on I became extremely thankful. I was thankful that something ahead caused traffic to slow down to allow me to realize there was a problem. If I hadn’t been forced to slow down I probably would’ve ignored the slightly more bumpy ride and faint drumming noise coming from the back of my car because at high speeds the issue was more difficult to distinguish as irregular. If I had continued driving at 80 mph my tire would have blown off and I don’t want to know what would have happened after that. I researched that when tire tread becomes separated from the tire, the tire soon after blows off of the car and it often causes rollover accidents because the driver suddenly loses control of the vehicle. I also read that although rollover accidents account for only 3% of all accidents, they account for 33% of fatalities. Not trying to sound morbid or anything. It’s just reality. I was also thankful that I chose to leave on Saturday morning rather than Friday night. It would have been a pain trying to deal with all of this at dusk and after hours.

Everyone has different beliefs and mine are not particularly orthodox, nor are they clearly defined. I just keep an open mind. Some may not think that a situation like this is that big of a deal and that it just happened by chance. Personally, I believe God or some higher power was looking out for me and put those series of events in play to keep me alive. It’s easy to take life for granted. We get stuck in our day-to-day routine and forget to be thankful for what we have in our lives. I know that I only get one chance at life and I want to make the most of my time here. I want to be remembered for my accomplishments and for making a difference in people’s lives. I need more time to accomplish what I want and am thankful to be alive to continue working towards my dreams. I am working towards having the mindset to where I wake up every morning and am simply thankful to be alive. Thereafter I’ll go on with my day and make it a day worth living….because if you’re not growing, you’re dying. 

Every day is an adventure if you choose to see it as one. My cousin, Jenny, used to tell me to “make a great day” rather than “have a great day.” She was, and still is, absolutely correct! As long as you are in control of your thoughts, you are in control of your life. So go out there and make a great day! :)

Allow yourself to think...

     I know I was made to accomplish great things. Everyone was. The difference is whether one knows it or not. In the past week I’ve come to realize that what you consider to be great one day can change into something different in an instant. The process that led me this realization is worth an entire different post, but I digress.

     

     Whether you are aware of it or not, your perception of the world is constantly changing based on your experiences and it’s what you take from those experiences that will ultimately affect your life. Albert Einstein said it like this, “There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” I’ve had this quote hanging in my room for almost two years and I’m just now developing a true understanding for it. I bought it originally because I liked Einstein and it was a cool quote. I read it every day and would ponder what he meant by it. I never will know Einstein’s reasoning; I will only know my own interpretation of it. How I see it is this: you can go through life each day and not think anything is grand about it and not really think about it as anything deeper than what it is. Alternatively, you can live each day as a student of life. Every person and experience you encounter you can learn a lesson from. This way of life allows you to assess all good and bad situations that occur in your life and really analyze them. What seems bad at first often gives light to an invaluable lesson about yourself, the world, and life. Rather than dwelling on the seemingly bad side of the situation, you direct your focus to the good that came of it. So when Einstein calls “everything a miracle” I don’t take that to mean that everything just miraculously happens as if magic, moreover, I take it to mean to place high value on every experience and treat it as if it were a miracle. Be thankful that this experience will allow you to grow as a person and act as a stepping stone or guide to wherever it is you are going.

     

     Where you are going today may be different than where you are going tomorrow. Your direction should be determined by your own desires, not by anybody else's. Once you determine what you want in life, all you have to do now is believe you can, and will, get it. Personally, I’ve found that determining what I truly want in life is simple but difficult at the same time. I know that ultimately I want to be happy, I want to be motivated by love and I want to be loved, and I want to have genuine relationships with others. It’s when I start thinking about more concrete things that it gets more challenging. Sure, I have goals to do an Ironman and travel the world. Those are easy. What I am searching for right now is what I want to do to make an impact on society. I have some ideas but I still need time to really think about them. However, since I have established the three core desires mentioned above and I have full confidence I can get them, I trust that experiences will present themselves in my life that will give me these things and in turn lead me to the realization of new goals.

     

     I encourage you to sit down with yourself and ask what you want in your life. Don’t limit yourself to only what you can conceive you can get based on your current condition because you can have, be, or do ANYTHING you desire.  All it takes is a dream and an undying belief in that dream. You only live once so make the most of it.

     

     Next to the Einstein quote on my wall is a quote by Gandhi, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” Your mind is the most precious and powerful tool you own. You just have to make the choice to utilize it to meet its full capability. Once you make that choice, your life will be forever changed and you will realize that what you thought was full capability is actually infinite possibility.