With a sigh, I started unpacking the jack and spare tire, thinking of how my plans for the morning were now toast. By the time I changed the tire, cleaned up and went to the repair shop, the morning would be shot. I was frustrated and disappointed.
That’s when it hit me. I had a choice. Not a choice about having a blown tire. Not a choice about how I was going to spend my morning. I had a choice about how I was going to feel about it.
So I paused. Took a breath. Then I chose to feel grateful instead of frustrated. How? By thinking about the positives in the situation. We had a full blowout and no one got hurt. It happened on a side road vs. the highway. We were close to home so I was able to do the work in my own driveway. All things considered, this could have been a lot worse.
As I was finishing, a good friend walked up. She had been stopping by just to drop something off (it was bacon – yep, she’s that kind of awesome). Since I was already out in the driveway, we got to talking and had an amazing conversation. She shared some pretty big life questions that she was wrestling with. I offered some things that I had learned in my struggles with those same questions. It seemed to really help her process. The discussion was very meaningful to me and our friendship is stronger for it.
You’re going to face blow outs in life. We all do. When they come, remember that you have the power to choose your attitude. And your attitude has a HUGE impact on how you feel. We can’t choose much of what happens to us but we can choose how we respond to it. Choose well and you’ll take another big step toward Becoming Yourself.
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