Enough about Encouragement

So with all of the strides towards higher goals and progress lately, I figured I'd relish in a little letdown to even the keel out a bit..

Just had the transmission go out in my truck. -- 😡

I'm pretty pissed off about it, despite realizing that I had next to ZERO control over it. And I got myself all in a tangle over it on my way home from overtime Saturday morning.. O wait.. did I just say overtime..

I Lied, This ISN'T a Bitch and Moan Post

So yea, it's aggravating but I came here today to encourage myself and anyone else out there who ever has car troubles.. so practically anyone within reach of my voice. So, realizing that it was actually outside of my control (and pretty damn normal for a vehicle of its age and mileage) helped to gain some perspective and control over the initial emotions.

To rehash: I have been working myself into the ground since before my son was born (over a year ago), 60+ hours a week most of the time, in order to provide opportunities (such as a house and better vehicles and tools for learning for my entire family) that would have taken a lot longer to achieve without the added hours on my checks.

Coming now to a point where I need the money to fix my truck, I'm just very grateful that I have had the opportunity to be working all these hours and that, while not ideal, the situation could be infinitely worse.

Upon telling some close family members and friends about my predicament, we had people coming out of the woodwork to offer assistance. This is all on top of myriad other nuanced elements of our situation. For instance:

Both my boss and my wife's boss are fantastic, understanding, and really just above average in their efforts to provide support for their subordinates.

My boss has allowed me to leave work a little early to make it back to the house with my wife's car in time for her to get the kids to daycare and be at work at an acceptable, albeit later than usual, hour. This wouldn't be possible if I was on a different shift. Or at least much more difficult.

It may not be ideal, but I have the money to repair my truck.

Yea, we are pinching pennies and busting our asses and striving for a higher level of financial independence. And saving for a house. And looking to invest.. but the fact is that I do have the money, I have had the unique opportunity, due to my various skills within my profession, to work an ungodly amount of overtime. Which absolutely, significantly lessens the blow of such a major, unplanned expense.

For whatever reason, people have offered vehicles to use in the interim period of my truck being fixed.

My wonderful aunts have offered (and I have accepted) use of their car while one is out of town on business. I couldn't even begin to explain the beauty of that considering what a miserable little shit I could be to them growing up. 💩😂
On top of that, the offer was made without me asking and certainly without my intention of making use of the idle vehicle.

Then my neighbor, of all people, heard me talking about it on the phone and OFFERED TO DRIVE TO AUSTIN TO PICK UP HIS IDLE VEHICLE.. Just for me to use.

I'm blown away by the compassion and generosity surrounding me. And can I tell you, it inspires me to be that kind of person every single day.

I wish I had more time to go into the details about some of the other things in this situation that have struck me as an opportunity rather than a disaster, but I'm sure you're quite tired of reading this as I rant on. I'm just so astounded by the grace and mercy that I have here and the opportunity to share it could not be wasted.