I was sitting in a car wash line, wanting to get home to make meat loaf for my dad (Father's Day wish). There were 3 cars ahead of me, and this dang car wash was taking FOREVER to get things done. I then made the executive, impatient decision to 'get the heck outta dodge.' I haphazardly backed up with a quick glance in my rear view mirror--a quick glance that didn't cover my blind spot, of course. And then...
BANG! Right into the car behind me that I didn't see and didn't know was there.
Great Ashley. Soooo idiotic.
The guy was nice, but gave me one of those pity glances. Don't worry dude, I thought, I feel pitiful enough.
But I guess that's my pride taking over, isn't it? Pride in the idea that I'm usually a good driver, with the exception of my idiotic moment. heh. But what really comes into play here is my impatience. And it may seem silly to you that I'm turning a trivial incident into a life lesson; however, if you read this blog you know that's my personality. I can find a lesson in anything, really.
And here's my lesson: What is the damn rush, Ashley?!? XOXO, God.
You're right, God. I'm always wanting to rush. Rushing to get to the store, rushing to get to work, rushing to get to Turkey, rushing to get on with life. And then, rushing causes inefficiency, which leads to accidents...which leads to what happened yesterday.
But patience...well...patience means that I assess the situation completely before making a rash movement. And what a good strategy patience is! It means taking the best route possible.
Anyway. It's not like I'm trying to be hard on myself. I'm not ALWAYS impatient, but it's something to be worked on. And if I would have waited, um, 10 more minutes for the car wash, then I wouldn't have gotten in this mini-accident, and I would have had a clean car.
Lesson learned.
I hope the damage wasn't substantial and I am thankful that noone was injured!
ReplyDeleteThanks You for being impatient. It helped me to slow down today. Its so true how busy we are and how we are always moving forward at break neck speeds. God didn't invent roses so we could bottle the scent and spray it on as we are running out the door. Life really does move at slower speeds but we have found every way possible to push the pedal to the metal and get the heck out of dodge when dodge is actually a very nice place to live. I hope you dont beat yourself up. Your still a great driver. p.s. keep san diego warm for me. i really want to come back as soon as the proper time allows. (granted i dont speed up the process).
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely the lesson I need to learn, too! I am very impatient - from the small things like being stuck behind slow fat people in the grocery store to the big things like life goals or dreams - we always tend, I think, to gravitate toward a "now now now" mentality - when in reality sometimes we need to learn how to be okay with the cards and situations we're dealt just having faith things will work out in their right time,
ReplyDeleteSorry about the car incident - glad everybody was okay!! xoxo
way to look for the lesson! i just would have had a bad day :)
ReplyDeleteI still kinda had a bad day. lol. Until I made that bomb meatloaf and my dad loved it! :)
ReplyDeletehaha bomb meatloaf :)
ReplyDeletesuicidal stanley made me laugh. my fish was predictably called "Goldy". don't make fun. And then we he died you know that song "goldy's last day" by PFR was my anthem!
i got you beat on the idiotic front. 1 - man unloads groceries from cart. 2 - man shuts back door. 3 - man leaves cart behind car. 4- man backs over cart with car. TA-DAH!
ReplyDeleteHmm...I've been meaning to get a Flickr for awhile now, maybe your rome pics request will inspire me! you can also email me and we can be FB friends - I have pics there!
ReplyDelete(http://scr.im/kanns) <- where my email is
Great post, Ashley! A similar thing happen to me in my early 20s - I was in the passenger side and there was a group of young people in front of an ice cream shop watching us - the music was turned up and I was feeling SO cool - until my friend who was driving did the exact same thing in front everybody! I went from feeling like a hot-shot to feeling stupid! Even though no real damage was done, it sure humbled me.
ReplyDeleteAt least you're safe. Better to learn a life lesson from a mini-accident in order to avoid a MAJOR one, right??
D.
I think everyone needs a lesson in being a bit more patient these days, great post :)
ReplyDeleteD E G A I N E
http://www.fashiondegaine.com
I have the patience of a saint... as long as children aren't screaming in my ear on public transport... or I have to wait in line for ages... or a web page takes ages to load... or water to boil...
ReplyDeleteOkay, so I'm not all that patient for MOST things, but I'm certainly a lot more patient than I used to be, and I SO get where you're coming from. Sometimes it is a case of just taking a big ol' breath, relaxing and letting what'll happen happen. It's a good lesson to learn and glad that you were okay, despite your minor accident!
Jax x
Humility is something I need to work on as well.
ReplyDeletePatience is something I can have in short supply on most days, especially when I have to deal with drivers on the road! I can get so impatient so easily, that sometimes I just have to remind myself that it's not such a big deal, to slow down, and move on.
ReplyDeleteI did that same exact thing a few years ago. It ended up being a car with 4-5 Mexican dudes in it. I think they seemed pretty relieved that there was no damage.
ReplyDeletePatience is truly a virture i've yet to master surrendering to :/
ReplyDelete