"You can't take it with you when your gone!"
- Unknown
So it's coming up to the end of the Summer holidays and as anyone who is in the teaching profession understands, these last few days are like gold dust. You try to squeeze as much in as you can because you know that once work starts back your life is not your own. It's that same feeling that anyone gets when they are coming to the end of their holidays.
With the end in sight I thought it would be best to get a couple of jobs out of the way that would be difficult to get done when I'm in work. Clean the car, wash the car and sort out any repair issues. For the past couple of weeks the brakes on my car have been making an awful sound so today it was off to the garage to get it sorted.
Now I don't have anything against anyone who works in a garage, it is indeed a very dirty job, whilst also being a skilled job too. However, I can't help but feel a knot in my stomach whenever I walk in. You know what it's like. As you stand there, you try your best to explain the problem in your feeble way (such as; "It's the springy thing that makes a banging sound when I turn this bolt bit" - that sort of thing!). The mechanic simply looks on with disapproving eyes and takes a big breath in that can only mean it's something major.
It's honestly like awaiting the results of an x-ray or a scan. You're simply stood there waiting to hear what the damage is going to be. And you know you're not going to leave with much change from £50.
But this time was going to be different. I knew it was the brake pads as I had had a similar problem before. This time, the trip would be positive. I had it planned out. I would walk in there, head held high and simply tell the mechanic in my most confident voice, "It's the brake pads". At least that's what it looked like in my head.
I drove to the garage. Pulled up. Explained the problem, just like I had planned, and left it with the mechanic. No feeling on edge, clear explanation of the problem and a knowledge that brake pads would cost me at most, £50.00. Result!
As I sat in the waiting area, drinking from my complimentary cappuccino served in finest paper cup, feeling quite pleased with myself the unexpected happened. The mechanic reappeared with "the look". Oh you know "the look". The same look that you get when the vet tells you there's nothing they can do for little fluffy, or the look you get when the dentist tells you a tooth is bad and has to come out.
I knew this look.
Apparently not only did my brake pads need replacing but so did my brake disks. Now, as far as I was aware, the brakes on a car were like brakes on a bike, but apparently it's not quite that straight forward. I'm no pro with cars (I can drive them and thats about it) but I could tell that this part that needed replacing was not going to be cheap. £100? £150 at the most I thought. We walked into the office where I was faced with the cost ... £235 for the job. £235! My plan was failing rapidly, as was my bank account.
Normally I would have said leave it and I'll replace it again but the brakes are kind of important. If it was something else fine, but the brakes are a bit different so...yes... you guessed it, I coughed up.
This whole incident was a disaster and nothing like the vision of grandeur I'd had of walking in and being the super car mechanic, that I certainly am not. As I waited in the seating area, perched on the italian leather couch, which I'm sure I should have had as a complimentary gift, this whole incident got me thinking.
How many times do we make plans in life and just as everything is going right, all to soon something unexpected happens? Something we didn't see coming. And how often do those times end up costing us? The boiler is broken and needs replacing, the car is broken and a new part has to be ordered, you've missed your flight because of traffic and need to buy another ticket. You know the sort of thing.
I'm sure there are many people out there who would be able to change brake pads easily at a fraction of the cost, but for me I couldn't and if I tried to fit them or something went wrong then all to quickly I could find myself in a tricky situation. Maybe a car accident? Maybe crashing into a barrier? The brakes are too important and I knew that even though the cost was high, I valued my life slightly more than £235. It might have been quite a price but as someone once said, "You can't take it with you when you're gone!" In that sense £235 wasn't really much in the long run.
In life, all of us will come up against things that we didn't really expect, and sometimes they end up costing us. Maybe not just money. Maybe it costs us time, maybe it costs us in other ways. I suppose all of us would be much better off if we could plan for the unexpected events that happen. But that's not life.
Life is filled with ups and downs, expected things and unexpected things, surprises and shocks. It's a guaranteed thing. The question is how you deal with the unexpected.
So I end with this thought,
In life we all value different things. Family, friends, loved ones. For most of the time things usually go smoothly but how do you handle the unexpected moments that happen in life? When we're faced with decisions and choices that we didn't see coming it's sometimes hard to decide what the right thing to do is. It's not enough to simply flip a coin or choose a straw to make a decision. What counts is how much we value things.
When you value something, no matter what happens, that always remains the most important thing to you. Why? Because if all else fails you know that it is those things you value the most that will also be the things that bring you true happiness in life. Not people's advice or opinions, not money, not even the local mechanic.
Life is a long time and if we go through it unhappy then it's an even longer time. But when we take care to value those things around us that are important to us and bring us real happiness then there's nothing we won't do to make sure that they are always there. There's no price tag on happiness.
£235 was a bit steep but I valued my life too much to take the risk. My life brings me happiness and so do so many people around me. Not such a steep price when you look at it like that.
Money doesn't bring happiness. Today, don't sell yourself short, settling for second best in your life. Don't sacrifice those things you value for something less. In life make sure you put those things you value first, whatever they may be. After all, money might look good in the bank but "You can't take it with you when you're gone."
Bywyd sydd yn byw - Just living life!
RM
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