It’s 2:30 in the morning and I’m walking to my car after a nice birthday celebration and this is what I come back to. The front passenger side window smashed and shards of glass covering the inside of my car. But not just my car, the whole row of cars down the block.
And it’s not even my car. It’s a rental. My truck is sitting in a shop after being in an accident (one out of my own control) just a few days before. The same truck that was also broken into last fall. Talk about bad luck. Maybe someone is hinting to me the benefits of public transportation.
But here’s what’s most interesting about this incident; The very reason I’ve taken the time to write about it. You see, I haven’t had a lot of free time lately to do any personal writing due to consistent news coverage with the NATO summit and everything else going on in my life, but sometimes you have to take a moment to reflect on the certain things you experience within yourself when life throws you curveballs and you see for whatever reason you adjust, adapt, and change. Simply put:
My reaction last year the first time this happened:
“What the $*(@#(&$))#*@! “
As I cursed up a storm at the top of my lungs, blood boiling, looking to get back at whoever smashed my window, stole my ipod, and would then force me to pay for the broken window. I even irrationally got into a confrontation with some guy in the middle of the street that told me to “quiet down.”
But…my reaction this time around:
“Well, what are you going to do? At least its not too cold out.”
I just couldn’t help but laugh at the situation. Maybe it was the de ja vu that made me recall how angry I was last year, and realizing that negativity doesn’t provide progress. I don’t know, but something just clicked. For whatever reason, regardless of how life changes–and I could definitely say life is very much different than that of last year– it doesn’t excuse you from the inevitable bullshit you come face to face with. Even if, as in my case, when it’s the same exact identical bullshit, a new chapter in your life no longer presents the same exact person.
Maybe there’s nothing too profound about getting your window broken and I’m thinking too deep on the subject. But I kind of compare it to the struggles we face in many aspects of our everyday lives, right? We get our windows–our hearts–our confidence–our personal pride– broken all the time. Not only in love and romantic relationships, but in our personal goals for accomplishment and everything else in between.
But it’s not about the material things in your life that can be broken or stolen from you. Everything can be replaced. It’s not about how much everything costs, or trying to do something about the people in this world who thrive upon looking out for their own best interests and add misfortune into the lives of others. It’s about appreciating the things no one can break or take from your posession. No matter how many times someone or some type of bad luck comes into your life and starts smashing up everything.
It’s about sticking to your original plans and sweeping the glass off the seat for your passenger and welcoming the breeze as you can’t do anything but smile and eventually forget why the window is down in the first place, because no one should ever stop you from enjoying yourself and doing what you want to do with who you want to be with. It’s about sharing old traditions with new friends of your late night eating spots, laughing while sharing stories between one another, because nothing and no one should stop you from appreciating the value in the relationships you make with others. It’s about the 5 a.m. drive home with one of your closest friends as the sun rises and you both joke that you’ve both seen the same sunrise together plenty of times before –(you’re just missing a window this time)– because one bad incident is overshadowed by the plenty of great memories you’ve had along the way.
We, as people, will experience a lot of broken windows in the inevitable ups and downs of life. Death, loss, stress, heartbreak… literally getting your window broken… but sometimes you just have to realize you can’t do anything about what you can’t control nor feel the need to understand the reasons for the unexplainable actions of others. I think the greater satisfaction and lessons learned in the end will be found when you were able to maintain positivity and appreciate the worth of what really matters. It’s not about the car. It’s the people in the car with you, the places you’ve been and the destinations you’re heading.
So clean up the glass and fix the window already. We got places to be.
