Day # 81 - Carpe Diem or Carpe Temporis Punctum

There are moments of frustration that can ruin even a good day. Often these are not big things, they are little thorns and rather than pull them out, we let them irritate us until our pain becomes everyone else's pain.

Saturday night, my son Steven called me. He was stuck on Alligator Alley with his girlfriend and his four-year old daughter. Their car was overheating. He mentioned something about the car having trouble (before leaving on the trip) and I immediately jumped on that. The rest of the world faded away. How could he be so irresponsible? How could he drive the alley with a toddler in an unreliable car?

I told him I would see what I could do. Bottom line is I took a drive out to the alley. AAA told me a tow truck would be $5 per mile, which would have added up to $300+ dollars so I decided to drive it home myself. We made it to Fort Lauderdale before the care heated up.

I left the car overnight and repaired it myself. Problem solved. Total cost: six bucks and a little aggravation.

I told you that to tell you this:

When we stopped out there on the alley, in all that darkness, I did something I hadn't done in a while: I looked up at the stars. There were too many to count, too many to understand, and they were beautiful beyond words and it reminded me of driving with Steven and AJ, going to Lakeland when they were kids, stopping on State Road 60, stopping and laying on the hood of the car to see the millions of stars out there. Amazing. They're always there, but the ambient light makes them impossible to see. Looking at the stars calmed me. I guess it made me realize how small and insignificant a broken-down car really is.

Life is made up of moments, some happy, some sad, some aggravating, some gratifying. I hadn't seen Steven in a while and I would have preferred different circumstances, but it was nice to see him. We drove together along the alley and had a chance to talk about a lot of things. It was nice to reconnect. It was nice to seize the moment and just talk with my son.

Thoughts for today:

- Seize the moment.
- Look up at the stars now and then. While your problems may seem important, reminding yourself that there is a vast universe out there helps you remember how insignificant they really are.

Declarations:

- Day by day in every way I am getting better and better
- I will always remember to let the little things slide.
- I will never waste a chance to talk to someone I love or to look up and count the stars.

Little things matter. If you ignore them, you will soon enough start ignoring big things. Learn to love them all.

Make it your best day yet. God bless you.

-Adolfo

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