I write a lot about the topic of patience because I believe it’s one of the greatest lessons I’m meant to learn in life. Truthfully, I believe it’s also a lesson that many others struggle to learn as well. Unfortunately, the path to achieving this is never easy. Often, it’s filled with many stumbling blocks and challenges that test the very thing we’re trying to learn. Recently, I had one of these experiences and it definitely taught me another invaluable lesson in patience.
That lesson started early one morning as I left the house to attend a 12-Step recovery meeting. As I pulled out of the driveway and began heading down the street, I heard a “thump, thump, thump” over and over again on the right side of my car. At first I thought it might be the condition of the roads just causing the noise. But as it got louder, I decided it might be best to stop and have a closer look. After pulling to the side of the road, I walked around my vehicle and inspected each of my tires. That’s when I saw on the front passenger tire, a long screw sticking in it. I quickly pulled it out and breathed a sign of relief when I didn’t hear any hissing noise. I then headed on to my recovery meeting and soon forgot about the mishap. After the meeting was over though, I returned to my car only to notice my low tire pressure indicator had lit up. That immediately led me to the closest car repair shop around the corner to get it fixed. A few minutes later the clerk there told me that it would take around five hours of time because of how busy they were. Not wanting to wait that long, I promptly left and went to another repair shop a few miles from there.
They had a better prognosis and said they could have it fixed within no more than two and half hours of time. So I left it with them and jetted off to a coffee shop to do some step work with a sponsee. And sure enough, after almost that exact amount of time had passed, my car was ready to go. As I headed home from the repair shop, I noticed I needed fuel, so I decided to pull into a nearby gas station before I got onto the highway. Suddenly a loud “BOOM!” came from the same side of my car where the tire had just been repaired. I rapidly jumped out of my car and heard a loud hissing noise now escaping from the rear passenger tire.
I watched for a moment in sheer frustration as that tire began rapidly deflating. Hopping swiftly back into my car, I raced back to the store that had just finished their repair not more than ten minutes before. Two and half more hours and $140 later, I was back in my car and driving away from that repair shop for the second time that day. That’s when I noticed it ironically took a total of five hours to deal with my flat tires that day, even though I had gone to another car repair shop hoping to save some time.
So whether I wasn’t meant to be on the road during all those hours of the day or not, I don’t know. Some might say it was just dumb luck on what happened. My truth is that maybe if I had been more patient at that first repair shop, I might have been able to save myself some extra hassle and some money that day. Regardless, my Higher Power definitely taught me another invaluable lesson in patience that day.
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
