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! :)