Thursday evening I drove straight to the gym in Dallas from a work site. I was flying out early the next morning and wanted to get in a workout before heading to the hotel. (This blog does have FIT in the title, afterall!). Following a good workout - and frankly, a long day - I walked out into the cold night air to my rental, with protein shake in hand. As I approached the rented Kia, I thought to myself, "what's all that brown stuff in the back seat?" My next thought... "huh, why am I looking directly into the back seat?" You guessed it, the brown stuff in the back seat was the tinted back window shattered into about 17,000 small pieces. Gone was my backpack filled with business and personal effects, along with my carry-on bag; all-told, thousands of dollars. It was a bad evening.
Fast forward to this morning. As I was drinking my coffee, contemplating some of the loose ends that need tying up from Thursday's theft, I received a call - the kind dads fear. My youngest daughter was stranded on the side of the road. The quick version, I now have the opportunity to purchase a new engine for her car. After a few calls to discover that local shops were slammed and closing soon, I determined that there was nothing I could do until Monday. (Obviously, I retrieved both she and the car).
Feeling sorry for me yet? I am embarrassed to admit... I was. My internal dialogue; "I am a victim of circumstances. No one should go through this crap!" If you are still with me at this point, please hang in just a little longer; I hope to make a point.
After the morning excitement I headed to the gym.. About one-third through a tough leg workout I was on the Hack-squat. The machine is close to a mirror and it was almost impossible not to watch myself as I strained and grimaced. That's when I noticed my shirt in the mirror.
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| BTW... I can't be held responsible for gym mirror cleanliness! |
Then it struck me. That's not what was written on my shirt. Though my "victim" brain interpreted it as TRIAL, the bold message of the shirt is 26.2 TRAIL. The shirt was presented to the finishers of the brutal (at least I thought so) Freestate Trail Marathon. 26.2 miles of trails, up and down hills, over rocks and roots. (I face-planted three times!) But as I mentioned in an earlier post, I FINISHED! I got the shirt.
So what my brain interpreted, due to my perspective and my "poor me" mentality, was actually the exact opposite of what was presented. The message of the shirt?
Dude, you're a marathoner... you are a finisher... you are an overcomer!
I choose that message!
I'm not promoting a foolish choice to turn from facing reality. I'm simply saying that we must keep everything in perspective. (And I'm preaching to myself here!) All things considered; things are pretty damn good. Let's take inventory.
- I lost all my stuff while traveling...
- I have a great job and have the opportunity to do some traveling around this country.
- I have "stuff" to lose in first place. Ever been to Africa, the outskirts of Tijuana or a mission center in the US?
- I'm not at a point in my life where I find it necessary to break into rented Kias to steal people's stuff.
- Everything was stolen while I was in the gym...
- I am blessed to be physically whole.
- I am able to make choices to pursue fitness as a lifestyle.
- I have not been called on to make the kind of ultimate sacrifice as have those whom we celebrated last week for Veteran's Day.
- My daughter's car...
- OK, this one just sucks! Kidding.
- Many families in the most affluent country in the world can't afford a vehicle. I have had the "opportunity" to purchase many (along with multiple insurances, tires, fill-ups, toll-tags, etc.); and there will be many more before I'm done.
- The call that interrupted my morning was a frantic call from my daughter about a break-down. It was not the calm voice of an Oklahoma Highway Patrolman informing me of an accident.
PERSPECTIVE. People often claim to be optimists, viewing the glass as half-full. Not me. Nor am I the pessimistic glass half-empty type. In my view these miss the bigger picture. They miss the point and they address the wrong question. My view... the glass was made to hold more. How do we fill it to its fullest potential?
That is the question that intrigues me... that haunts me... that drives me! (Maybe that's a subject for a future post.)
For now...
D
