Expectations...

There are things in life that we just expect to work. Like expecting your alarm going off to wake us up in time.  Like flipping the switch expecting the light to turn on.  Or like putting your keys in the ignition and expecting your car to start. 

Last week the latter happened to me.  I went to the store and after shopping turned the key in my car and nothing happened.  I expected to turn my car on and to be on my merry say, running about town doing my errands.  Instead, I ended up waiting for AAA to rescue me with a jump to my battery.  The jump lasted me enough to get 3 miles into driving until the car just shut down and i ended up on the size of the road.  (in a No Parking, Tow Away Zone no less!).  The same AAA tow truck guy came to give me and my car a lift to the dealership where we get repairs done. 

An hour later it was discovered that not only was my battery dead, but my breaks were dangerously close to being worn out completely and my tires were bald!  I expected the battery but not the other issues and certainly not for them to be as bad as they were!  If it weren't for my battery, I may have ended up in an accident and someone may have been hurt - and it could have been the most important someone to me, my son. 

Oddly enough, the situation I found myself in today paralleled something happening in my personal life.  Sometimes we coast through life, expecting it to remain the same as it has always been.  We sometimes take for granted that everything functions as a well oiled machine until something stalls and we need a tow from a bad situation to a better one.  Sometimes a quick jump will help us get to where we need to go and sometimes it will only take us half way there before something dire happens.  And sometimes after further introspection there is more wrong than just the issues that produced the stalling symptom.  At this point it should be considered a blessing that these other arising problems were discovered before they caused catastrophic results.  Especially because there were no other symptoms that would show you there was a big problem growing; one that could not be seen unless you were looking for it or underwent a physical to check and make sure everything was ok 

Now there are two roads to travel.  One path is to ignore the problem and not fix it until it was fully seen.  Or road two, address and fix the problem.  Both roads come with a price.  One price you pay later and the other you pay now to insure security and safety.  Either way the price is painful, but to me paying to get my breaks replaced before they wore out completely was the best and wisest option.  Fixing the unseen issues took a toll on our wallet, but I know that it was well worth taking care of now.  

It's been a week and my car has been working just fine.  But there are times when I wonder if it could break down again. When I see a tow truck.  When I pass by the place where I was stalled on the side of the road.  Those reminders can never be removed and will serve as a reminder that not everything is always going to work like it always has or have grown to expect.