The proper attitude. I admit it - I cried a little. But can you blame me? I’d just driven over 500 miles, supervised a booksigning, and was trying to drive another 350 miles. I was tired. Seeing that nail in the tire was just too much. Dad said it would be an adventure, but I just couldn’t muster the enthusiasm for the adventure. I didn’t know what to do. I hate feeling powerless, paralyzed, weak. I don’t know how to change a tire. Would the spare tire be full of air? Can we even GET to it? Dad’s 87, and I don’t know much of anything about tires. Or cars. We filled it up with air, but didn’t know if it was a slow leak, or if the nail would fly out, or or or. I called AAA, then Steve, then went back to the hotel. Should we drive or should we stay? Drive where? I tried to muster optimism, but I was tired, and when I’m tired I just can’t function too well. The lesson? Try not to get too tired, learn how to change a tire, check my whole car out before I leave on a trip, don’t pack 4 boxes in the back of the car. But I just couldn’t get too positive, until we got to the hotel and Daniel came to help us. It made me feel empowered, watching him, wondering if I could do it. If you’ve never done something, you’re powerless. If you haven’t grilled, you can’t grill. If you haven’t mown the lawn, you can’t work the lawnmower. I know these things because I’ve purposefully NOT learned how to do them, so I CAN’T do them, if asked. I can say, “I don’t know how,” and that’s good when it comes to grilling and lawnmowing, but not so good when it comes to changing a tire in Medora, ND, where there are no gas stations.
So I think I have learned some things this weekend. I have learned that a positive attitude is a really fabulous thing (thanks, Dad!), I have learned where to find my spare tire (not around my waist, thank you!), and I have learned that empowerment is a powerful thing. Although I am tired, nay, exhausted, it was a good, good weekend. Hard work, lots of movement, lots of expansion - my next goal is to get more energy (maybe more help) in my life so I CAN get all of these marvelous things done! Empowerment - getting more power - yup, that’s the thing, I think.