Dealing with stressful situations

Yesterday was just one of those days when nothing seems to go the way you planned.  I was driving to work and my right rear tire blew out; while I was on the highway.  I kind of knew it was going to happen if I didn't get new tires soon, but I hadn't had a chance to get to CostCo with my roommate - who has our Costco card.  As luck would have it, I was right near an exit, so I head to the off ramp and parked in a little parking lot next to the puppy chow plant in Denver.  Thankfully (and those of you who live here, know) there was no smell because it wasn't too warm out yet.

Now, my Dad taught me how to change a tire before he taught me to drive, and I have done it a ton of times in the past.  For some reason, I could not get the nuts of the wheel cover.  I called my awesome roommate and he came to help me get everything settled.  It should have been a half hour job. I have a good spare, all the tools I need and I know what I am doing.  Well, once he got there and got the nuts off, we could not for the life of us get the wheel off. It had rusted to the brakes.  AWESOME!  So we called a couple Honda places and they said bang on it from the back or roll the car back and forth.  We did both and no such luck. By this point I was about an hour late for work.  So I called the awesome ladies in the front and they helped me get a sub for my kiddos - thanks goodness for them and my awesome sub. We decided if we couldn't figure out how to get the wheel off, we would need to get it towed.  BOO.  Thankfully, my roommate knows a guy and his shop was right near us. We called and he said he'd be there in an hour or so.

So, we waited in the gorgeous Denver morning sunshine and we were just chatting when my roommate had the brilliant idea to rock the car SIDEWAYS!  What do you know, it worked and we didn't need a tow truck after all!

We got the tire changed and headed to CostCo to get new tires.  It only took about 5 hours -LOL

So - the point of all this is that yesterday COULD have been super stressful. I COULD have spent the morning worrying about everything that went wrong.  Instead, I chose to be unaffected by the circumstances and focus on the positive.  The glorious sunshine, hanging with my best friend, getting things on my car fixed and taken care of, the wonderful, wonderful staff at my school that is always so helpful and on top of things.  These are the days that test us.  But here's the thing.  What happened yesterday is so minor in the grand scheme of things.  I live in a world where the worst that happens to me on a bad day is I get a flat on my awesome car on my way to a job that I love.  I just try to keep things focused and in perspective.  Yeah, it was a little inconvenient, probably more so for my coworkers who had to cover my class until a sub showed up, but there's not much I really need to worry about on a day to day basis.

Running helps me to focus and clear my head when I do forget how lucky I am.  I ran for about an hour yesterday and while it was a pretty tough run (new path) I still felt awesome when I was done.  Running is my meditation.  It is the time when I can just forget any worries or stress and just let it all out.

Stress is a real thing - it has physical and emotional side effects - but you need to figure out a way to let go of the things that stress you out - for me its gratitude, perspective and hitting the pavement EVERY DAY.

I need to always remember that I will not have control over what happens to me, but I do have control over how I react to the things that happen to me.

Cheers.