Grab the Keys and Get in the Back Seat!
My car died Monday night. It decided enough was enough – 189,131 miles was all it was able to give to me and krrrr-plunk, she was gone. No warning was given. She gave up the good fight. So I, of course, decided to improvise! I called friends, found rides, and made sure I was where I needed to be for the three days that I was car-less. Since I have incredibly reliable friends, all was well, kind of. I still had a tiny problem – I was not mobile. As I rode into the car dealership with my friend Sara the morning after the Montero Sport went to Heaven I thought to myself, “Can you buy a car in 3 hours?”
No one took me seriously at the dealership. Apparently it’s bad practice to say, “Hi. I’m trying to buy a car, and no one is trying to sell one to me. Can you find someone to grab the keys and jump in the back so I can get this show on the road?”
Puzzled looks.
“Did I mention I have a meeting in 3 hours?”
I did find a car I love. And I actually, did buy it 3 days later.
Perfect, right? Well almost. The money I used for a down-payment was actually my money to study abroad this summer as a research assistant in Israel. In addition to this expense, my lease is up where I live and in order to get the apartment I felt safer in on the other side of town, I had to let my leases over-lap. Can you say, “double rent”? Yes, double rent!
Did I mention, I recently started a business, am still nannying several hours a week, am in grad school, am taking the two hardest classes I possibly could have TOGETHER, and sort of still want to have a life? Oh, and I dropped my iphone 4 in a puddle yesterday.
Yes, it’s true. My life is slightly upside down.
You can’t determine what happens in life. None of us can. (Sorry, control freaks, I feel your pain.)
The good news is, you can determine what you do with what happens. You have to look for the positives.
In my case, I will save every dime I have. I will try to combine the frequent flyer miles of everyone I know. I will remember that it’s scientifically proven that stress, up to a point, increases drive and productivity. I am good at the things I do. And I love them. School, life-coaching, nannying – I love them all. I am determined to do them and do them well. And I am determined to exhaust every option I have that could get me to Israel and assist with my expenses there.
Luckily, I am missing the part of one’s personality that causes giving-up. I simply don’t know how to do it.
Life has up’s and down’s. You may be in a season of thriving or you may be in a season of surviving. I encourage you, either way to know that all things are possible. Have faith in yourself. You can do it.
Never give up. Never quit. Life is what you make it.