My night did not go exactly as planned...

Everyone knows that in our journey, there are bumps in the road. Sometimes these things occur because of something we cannot control and sometimes these things occur because of our own stupidity. It seems like in my life, these things most often occur for that second reason. The most recent example being last night. I was ready to sit down and watch my Thursday night shows and decided that I would order take-out from Chili's. I get very excited about good food and good TV so this was going to be a great night! Well, my night did not go exactly as planned. I called and ordered my food and the guy said it would be ready in 15 minutes. Keep in mind, I was looking forward to my loaded nachos and side salad (they have a really good side salad at Chili's)! I got in my car and realized I was almost out of gas so I stopped at the Kroger gas station, happy as I could be because of the fun night I was having.

I need to give one piece of background information before I proceed. A little while back, my driver's side door broke. It won't open from the outside for whatever reason. So I have to open one of the other doors and open my door from the inside. No worries really because I can do it really fast now and will get it fixed one of these days.

Anyway, I pulled into the gas station, got out and just as I'm scanning my Kroger card, the wind slams my door shut! I immediately knew what had happened. I couldn't open my door and I saw my keys were still in the ignition. I tried every other door and they were all locked! I then saw my phone sitting in the car! I immediately went into that "panic, what am I going to do, Kevin you are so stupid, why God" mode! Well, it was a busy night at the Kroger gas station and cars were everywhere. Just as I was about to say something out loud, I heard a lady yelling at someone. She was furious because according to her, some guy had pulled into her spot after she had been waiting for way too long! Everyone seemed a little tense and frustrated so I decided not to say anything about what I had done just yet. I proceeded to fill my tank up and again, checked every door just to make sure, but it was hopeless. And then it hit me... I wouldn't be getting those loaded nachos or side salad anytime soon!

I went into Kroger to try and call a locksmith. At first no one could find a phone book, so I decided to use a payphone to call my wonderful and always helpful sister, Christy, and see if she would go online and find a locksmith and help her poor brother out. It rang and rang and no answer. I knew she wouldn't know the number calling and that meant she wouldn't answer the phone. (So, yes Christy.. that was me calling you!) The nice lady at the customer service desk found a phone book and I picked an ad in the yellow pages that sounded good and the locksmith said he would be there in about 30 minutes. Kroger was too far away from the gas station so I knew I needed to wait outside and keep watch for the locksmith.

Since I thought I was just running to Chili's and back I had simply thrown on some black running pants and a black hooded sweatshirt and thought nothing of it. However, as I was walking through Kroger I noticed myself in the mirror and saw that I looked more like a potential serial killer than just a nice guy. This was confirmed when I followed a mother and her child out of the store and the mother kept looking back at me like she was about to spray me down with pepper spray or something!

I waited outside and it was freezing cold! I put my hood up over my head, (which now screamed... this guy will mug you!) but I didn't care. I kept walking back and forth between Kroger and the gas station and finally saw a car pull up next to mine. I ran towards the gas station and the locksmith could tell I was so glad to see him! Of course, he had it unlocked in about 5 minutes and I told him he was my hero. It had been almost an hour since I left my house and I was so cold that all I wanted to do at this point was get home and get warm so I ended up not getting my food from Chili's; instead, I went with Burger King.

Life doesn't always go as planned, but today I laughed about what happened, how I looked, and how incredibly cold I was. It's all part of the journey! I think I might try again tonight for Chili's :)

Gratitude

One of the greatest things we can do in life is to live with gratitude. In the book, The Secret, it talks about the power of being grateful in life and how those two words... thank you... can ultimately change our lives for the better. It seems that there are always reasons to find complaints in life and if we aren't careful, we will give so much attention to the negative aspects that it will begin to consume our life. I do believe that what you put out into the world will come back to you. There is so much in life to be thankful for. There are family and friends, jobs and careers, our health, moments in life, and even that chocolate cake I got at Publix the other day that is delicious! When we focus on what is good and give thanks for that, it changes your perspective and it allows you to find even more in life to be grateful for. At the beginning of this year I started a Gratitude Journal. The goal is every night to write down 5 things I am thankful for about that day. Some days are easier than others, but as I continue doing it (and no, I don't get to it every night, but almost every night) it reminds me of how great life really is. Yes, there are hard times and there are bad things that happen in life that have to be dealt with but with this journal, I'm not giving too much energy to the bad, instead I am focused on the good. We are 6 weeks into the new year and there have already been challenges in my life, but when I look at what I am grateful for... it far outweighs the bad. I know that journaling is not for everyone, but I do encourage you to begin to say thank you throughout your day... whether it be to a family member, a friend, a situtation, or to God... I do guarantee that it will help us all in living extraordinary lives!