Welcome to another chapter of Grateful Heart Monday, where I begin each week with a piece of gratitude, which for today is for something that might sound a little odd, given it’s for my Toyota Camry Hybrid.
I own a 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid and while I never named my vehicle, it truly has been something special to me and has been a blessing many times over. I currently have over 230,000 miles on it and am also its original owner, having driven it off the lot back in December of 2006 with a mere 10 miles on it.
Why I’m filled with gratitude for my car though is for a number of reasons, which I decided to numerically list the top ten:
- It helped me commute from Boston, MA to Chincoteague, VA (where the bed and breakfast I used to own was) countless times.
- It helped me commute from Boston, MA to Toledo, OH for two entire years while I was dating my partner long distance.
- It has kept me safe and helped me narrowly avoid a number of accidents over the years, and even protected me immensely when I actually did have a significant accident in 2012.
- It has been a great haven for me to vent and scream at the top of my lungs over my frustration with my health issues.
- It has been an extremely reliable vehicle with relatively low maintenance issues.
- It has been my “recovery shuttle”, given it’s been the only vehicle I’ve used to get me to all my recovery meetings ever since coming to Alcoholics Anonymous in 2007.
- Its license plates have been great talking points and motivations for a good number of people’s spiritual lives. (I’ve used “23RDPSM”, “BEURSLF”, and “DNTJDGE” over the years in case you’re wondering!)
- It has taken me on a number of long-distance vacations and helped me to go visit plenty of beautiful people, places, and things that I will cherish forever.
- It has maintained amazing gas mileage, even after all these years, as I tend to still average at least 35 miles to the gallon with every full tank.
- It’s been the home of much of my 11thStep life of prayer and meditation and mantra recitation.
So, as you can see, this vehicle has brought me a multitude of gratitude and remains very dear to my heart, given how integral it’s been to my life. Ultimately, I give all the credit to God though, as I feel it was God who was the One to lead me to actually purchasing it so long ago now, as I originally had my sights set on a much flashier automobile. Nevertheless, I truly have a lot to be grateful for when it comes to my 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid and I feel blessed for it to have been a part of my life for as long as it has…
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
