Strikes and Gutters

My New Attitude or How to Find the Silver Lining in a Fused Motor

So it certainly could have been much worse. My $1000 1984 Ford Bronco almost completed a 2500 mile round trip today. Unfortunately, it is now essentially totaled and I'm typing this at the only Starbucks in Hermiston, Or waiting for a ride. Fortunately, I'm close enough to home that a ride is an option, and I don't need a car for the next 10 weeks. This gives me time to figure out what I'm going to do about this issue...and I have no doubt that a very viable solution is out there.

You see, a few years ago this experience would elicit a tirade from me including the words "Why" "Me" and "Unfair". Now, I have gained enough perspective to understand how much worse it could be, to let myself off the hook for not preventing a problem I didn't know existed, and to let the past be the past as I work towards solutions for the future. I used to dwell on how much better things could be going for me, on how many more breaks I could be getting instead of letting them get me. Life just doesn't work that way. I can live in the mistakes I've made in the past, or I can decide to learn from what has happened and move forward with life, thankful that Max and I are safe, warm, and not down for the count. Not by a long shot.

posted by Nate C @ 7:22 PM