Bumps On The Road

The other day I had one of those experiences that is common to many, when the car you are driving all of a sudden gives out.  It was after work and as I was heading home when this happened and the disoriented feeling of being at the mercy of a tow company and then trying to figure out how to get home afterwards was all encompassing.  As I waited for the tow service to arrive, I did think about how the experience of not being in control and having to adjust to the circumstance was very similar to living life.  In our life experiences, we like things to be a certain way and we get comfortable with what is familiar.  However, if you get to live to be a certain age, one realizes that there are many bumps and curves along the way that caused some perplexing periods which one has come to know as part of the experience of life.  Hard knocks when they occur can be difficult to overcome and I know first hand how sometimes they appear to suck the wind out of you, depending on how much one has to undertake.  I have known people that have suffered tremendous losses and some in a series of occurrences that aside from feeling sorry for what they are undergoing, you begin to wonder why so much can happen to one individual.  Yet, in all of those examples that I have witnessed, I saw great strength and had admiration for those people who showed me along with the rest of the world, that they were still standing.  In every family one does not have to venture for very long to see how many people in our own circles have been affected by a life changing experience.  Whether a person was dealing with a long illness, suffered a loss or had to contend with some other type of difficulty, we have all witnessed what it took to overcome along with the endurance that was needed.  Finding that strength that one did not even know that they possessed, has always been intriguing to me.  It is just like preparing for an emergency, one can do all of the background reading and perform drills, however, until it actually happens is when the true test must be passed.  Ideally, we would all like to have some type of clairvoyance to be able to know ahead of time when to expect a bad turn.  However, the reality is that life is not like that and we must all have our own survival tools at the ready, for when the need arises.  Parents do their best to prepare their children for all circumstances and it is always their wish that if something bad were to occur, they would rather be the recipient of such an obstacle rather than their loved one.  What I have learned is that having lived longer gives you a more diverse look at how these experiences have shaped whom we have become.  We are stronger, more resilient and have a lot more patience when it comes to experiencing a formidable bump that appears on our path.  I have also learned that nothing is forever and that all things similar to all storms do end up passing.  The strength to endure and to be a beacon of hope to others is what I now see as the many attributes that life has given me.  Therefore, when you find that your road is getting bumpy, keep all things in perspective.  Look ahead towards the smoother side that is coming on the horizon and when given the opportunity, help others steer away from the familiar bumps that you have already passed.