One of my all time favorite quotes comes from a commencement talk/song, Free to Wear Sunscreen.
"Don't worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind. The kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday."
I am sure that I am not the only person on this planet that can be classified as a worrier. I like to think I am a champion worrier. However, the older I have gotten I have discovered that the things I worry about never happen and the things I never worry about do. Which means that there is absolutely no point in worrying. No matter how good at it I am.
Life is going to throw you challenges. When challenges happen you have a couple of choices, the first is to embrace the challenge, and find the blessing in the challenge. The second choice is to give up. Giving up is actually the hardest of the two choices, because how exactly do you give up. Do you climb under a rock, do you burry your head in your pillows, do you pretend the challenge away? Often those are not viable choices since you have to deal one way or the other.
Last night Brent and I were out for a drive. We had stopped at Barnes and Noble and when we came out our car decided not to start. Without any warnings what so ever it simply refused to go. The details of what happened after are not exactly the point of this post. About an hour after we found ourselves stranded we were home, our truck tucked in the garage, and Brent had a fairly good idea what was wrong, and how to fix it. We hope.
My point to this post is the way we handle and deal with the challenges. In the moment that I realized the car was not going to start my inner worrier came out roaring. My inner dialogue was going crazy, with a million why us, oh no, what if, and how much is this going to cost. Then with a deep breath I realized that this is life we deal, we do the best we can, and we move on.
Also, here is the most important part, we ask for help.
I quickly prayed that we just got home with the truck. Of course I meant that Brent was able to get the truck running long enough to get us home.
What happened...
Well the truck really never got going. We ended up in an empty parking lot where I called a friend to see if her husband could tow us home. Unfortunately, her husband was not home but she agreed that if S. could run over to watch her kids she would come get Brent and I. For some reason as she left her house she thought to bring a tow rope. Turns out that she has been towed lots of times helping her dad who is an auto mechanic. We were soon home with the truck and I had my first experience being towed and she talked me through the whole thing.
After we were home Brent and I were talking and he mentioned how he was grateful we had decided to take a ride. He said that If we hadn't gone for a ride when the truck died I would have probably been by myself with him out of town. Brent also said, he was grateful for my friends. Who I have to say once more rock, and thank you, thank you. We had a long talk before falling asleep, and ended the day counting all our blessings. Which for me is a very bizarre way to handle a stressful situation.
I also have to acknowledge that Heavenly Father answered my prayers. In fact, he did exactly what I asked he got us home with the truck. Although, I meant one thing and another happened it is interesting I got exactly what I asked for.
Am I still worried... Well of course, we are not a 100% sure what is wrong, and car repairs are not cheap. However, worrying about it is about as effective as trying to solve an algebra problem by chewing bubble gum.
Have a wonderful Tuesday everyone
Krissi
Comments
Sometimes those little (or seemingly big) annoyances are answers to prayers, aren't they? One time was having a hard time getting out of the house, then we had to stop at the gas station (you know the one) - where I was having trouble with the stupid pump. My kids were onry and I spent extra time dealing with them as well. During my delays a police car whizzed past the gas station toward the freeway. When we finally got to the freeway our onramp was CLOSED. So we went to the next Southern entrance and got on the Northbound onramp there. I was still pretty flustered.... until I came upon the onramp I was going to be using, where a car had jumped the freeway and smashed into another car who was on "our" onramp. At that moment I realized that if we would have been traveling on time, exactly as planned, my and my two small kids very well could have been that car that got slammed in to. I was shaking while upwardly exclaiming my thank yous.
Your posts prompt me to write, write, write and then I end up copying and pasting into my own blog. :)