How strange the world is...
As we enter the final weeks of January 2013 I thought I
reflect back on the beginning of 2013.
It hasn’t been a great start. The bad fortune began for me
on Christmas eve, eve. Having been stuck at home for several days I decided I
needed a trip to the coast. It’s only a short drive away and while there was
some evidence of flooding on local roads there was nothing too bad and I
thoroughly enjoyed watching the surfers catching the waves in Wembury –
dreaming that I was surfing myself!
My return journey wasn’t quite so straight forward and
turning back twice because roads were marked impassable, I continued on to a
village near by to attempt to get home ‘the back way’. It was dusk by now and
raining again. There was no sign saying the road was blocked so I headed
home. Not long now I thought but without
warning I then saw a deeply flooded road ahead. In a split second I made the
decision to try to get through – mistake! Within seconds the car was submerged
up to the bottom of the doors and I quickly realised the only way out of this
mess was for me to wade through the water and go and fetch help. It was dark by
now. I reached for my phone. I’d left it behind. Nothing for it but to walk to
the lights in the distance.
I was really lucky as a passing Firefighter and local tow
truck just happened to be passing and after a few hours the car was towed away.
I didn’t realise at that point that that would be the last I saw of it! I
didn’t know how quickly you could write off a car!
What has been more surprising has been how deeply affected
I’ve been by this mistake. I obviously felt really stupid at having made that
bad decision but then the amount of work and aggravation that ensued to try to
get the situation sorted was hard to fathom. Endlessly waiting on the telephone
to speak to the insurance company, hours of wading through possible replacement
cars and the worry of not knowing how much the insurance company would stump up
to replace the car.
It’s only about a month later and we have a great new to us
car sitting pretty and waiting to take us out again. It’s true the aggravation
and stress levels were high but I’ve been left reflecting that what was truly
much worse than the reality of the situation was my reaction to it. My constant
worrying and going over the sorry ordeal was a complete waste of time! The
reality hasn’t turned out that bad at all. This was just a minor set back for
me and my family. Around the globe people
are experiencing much worse traumas and problems that need their strength and
fortitude. All I can hope is that I have learned this lesson now. Acceptance
and patience is all we can really strive for – I truly hope I can approach the
next set back with a calmer perspective.
Come on 2013 let’s have something good!
