Just Put On a Happy Face

Sometimes, I get motivated to disregard "natural" feelings and decide I am able to put on a happy face.

Today, I found such motivation.

It has been easy the last 3 or 4 days to dwell on a car being at the shop. A car that we have no intention of getting fixed at the shop because of its price tag to do so.

So, like may be natural, we began evaluating our options. Would we pay to have the car fixed, would we buy a different used car from a dealership, or would we buy one of the two brought up by family members?

How snobby am I? Yeah, I didn't appreciate my car breaking down. I'll admit, financially it isn't something I would ever hope for, to essentially have $5700 washed down the drain with the turn of a key. But seriously, how snobby am I? This situation may not have been fortunate, or in my favor, but I have options. I HAVE OPTIONS. What can I really complain about? I've got numerous different paths to "reconcile" the situation from which I get to choose.

Funny thing is, the one that is leading the pack right now, wouldn't have entered my mind without said misfortune.

What if we lived for a while with just one car? What are the implications of restructuring my schedule at work and in my life commitments that enables us to do what we've committed to doing and find most important to our lives with just one vehicle between us?

As I've begun to think about this option more, I have started to realize that there is a part of me that just wants to try it. I think I can make it work, at least for a while, and I have envisioned some of the self-imposed structure that may actually be more beneficial for my personal development than having so much of the freedom to be lazy on my own time. I've realized I can be an intensely disciplined person when my mind is set to something and am now curious how beneficial certain things can be if I just decide to restructure some of the disciplines of my life based on this "misfortune."

So, I've decided to just put on a happy face. I've decided to be thankful for the ability to weigh options in response, and to even get excited about trying an option I may have otherwise never considered.

I have no doubt that the moment not having a vehicle becomes a hindrance to effectively carrying out my commitments (read work and mentoring meetings) that I will without hesitation evaluate other options more heavily, and honestly admit that I'm still open to hearing lots of vehicle options for Jenny and I, but I'm kind of excited about trying something different for awhile.