This past weekend was the best weekend for me. Work has been draining me through out the week so I decided that I would spend the weekend secluded from the world as a way to recharge. It truly was wonderful. I don't know if I'm becoming more of an introvert or if it's because I'm so empathetic, but I have found lately that I have to retreat from people to recharge. It's a new concept for me since for the majority of my life I've always been energized by people, not drained.
As I withdrew myself from the world, I only emerged from time to time. I went to a Barre One class and ran in the park later in the evening. The only interactions I had with people was surface level. It was refreshing and reenergizing.
By Sunday I already felt 10 times better. I ventured out to the the market where I had a few interactions and continued my day cleaning and running errands. It felt great. I felt accomplished and found myself living in the moment being thankful for such a wonderful weekend.
As I drove to a Barre One class Sunday (which is literally 7 minutes from my house) I had a bad feeling hit the pit of my stomach. No joke, less than a minute later my low pressure light came on my car. "Not again!" I thought. I've had my car 7 months and in those 7 months I've already had to patch a tire from running over a nail in the road. Not once, but twice. I found a parking spot fast, which ended up being a good thing because as soon as I got out of my car I could hear the air coming out of my tire. What looked to be a razor blade had struck my passenger side front tire. The tire was completely deflated within 5 minutes.
It's funny how it doesn't phase me any more. I immediately called my step dad and he came and helped put my spare on. As he put the spare on I called a coworker of mine to see if he could order me a tire and put it in during school tomorrow (thank GOD for an auto mechanic program at the school I work at and a teacher who is ALWAYS willing to help).
I went home, signed up for AAA (because after having 3 flats in less than 6 months you come to accept the fact that you will find all sharp objects in the road and you'd rather be safe than sorry).
Despite a little down in my day and the thought that I would be buying a new tire this week, I still felt my weekend was good.
Came home, built a fire in our fire pit and sat outside enjoying the weather when I get a notification on my phone that there has been a $70 dollar charge made to my credit card.
It wasn't my charge to "Active Universal" so I immediately called my credit card company. They filed it as a fraud charge, canceled my card and are sending me a new one. They took care of everything in less than 10 minutes.
At this point I could have called my evening a "bad evening". I could have even called it a bad day. I mean, two things that were completely out of my control happened, I had the right to have a pity party, right?
But I didn't. I didn't lower my head in sadness. I chose not to dwell on the two mishaps that took place within just a few hours. Instead, I found myself feeling thankful. I felt thankful that my step dad didn't think twice about coming and helping me change my tire. I felt thankful that even if he had been out of town I could have called my brother and he would have done the same thing for me. I felt thankful that I knew someone who would be willing to help me get a new tire the very next day. I felt thankful that the credit card company was able to cancel my card in just minutes and take care of the situation for me.
I was not heart broken. I was not bitter. I was thankful.
It made me realize that mishaps are going to happen. We don't know how often and they are never predictable. So what's the point in getting all worked up over things that are out of your control? What's the point of feeling sorry for yourself. What's the point in thinking that life should treat you better than it treats other people. We're all in this hardship together having uncontrollable moments erupting our lives.
Truthfully, the two mishaps were small mishaps. Nothing life changing, nothing that couldn't be fixed with a little time. But I hope I can take this attitude and apply it to other misfortunate moments. I hope that I can turn those moments around more often and look at the good I have in the difficult moments. I have so much support from people who care about me. I have yet to go through a moment of misfortune and not have someone to turn to.
Maybe that's the purpose of those moments. Maybe they happen to remind us that we're not alone. Maybe they happen to remind us to be there for other in their misfortune to remind them too that they are not alone.
Life is unpredictable. Mishaps and unpredictable moments are a guarantee in this life. Instead of allowing them to crush us down, why not find a way to use those moments to lift us and others up? Why not start with having a better attitude with the little moments. Maybe, just maybe, the habit will flow into the bigger moments as well.
