So I’m driving on I-20 in the middle of a gaggle of cars and out of nowhere, a rubber mallet comes bouncing down the interstate. I couldn’t swerve left (I would have kissed an 18-wheeler) so I swerved right off the road. It seemed like a good plan, yet the mallet took an odd bounce and went right into our van’s path. I slammed on the brakes (since I was off the road), hoping to avoid it. No dice. I was rewarded with a sickening thud as it struck the front of my van.
I have a history of crap hitting my car. I’ve lost two a/c condensers to rocks, had a rock take out a radiator and a bullet destroy an engine. I’ve also had numerous cracks on my windshield. We even had a piece of metal take out the trim on a van we were borrowing. Our roads are a minefield full of debris.
I went to the next exit to survey the damage. And I was pissed.
Nothing. I could see no dents, dings or damage. Then I looked closer — a slight dent, barely perceptible to the eye.
I pulled back on the interstate frustrated. Exhausted from an emotional weekend and a week of travel, I cursed my dumb luck.
Then I had a reset moment. I didn’t have dumb luck. I had awesome luck. My van had just been hit by a sledgehammer and was basically uninjured. My family was ok and we were still heading on our merry way.
So many times we see life’s glass half empty. We focus on what is wrong and don’t even notice what’s going right. And I can tell you from experience, that’s exhausting. But one thanks to one bouncing mallet in the middle of nowhere, I got a wake-up call.