Forced To Face It

It's not like I needed a reminder. I was well aware I'd been spreading myself thin again. That realization happened a while ago, but now I don't have a choice of whether or not to do something about it.

My friend Shawn is the luckiest person I know. Things just always work out for him. And usually, they seem to end up far better off than originally planed. The part that used to drive me nuts was that he doesn't really put time or energy into making it so... which actually seems to be the secret ingredient to making things magically work out; especially when logic says they shouldn't.

I remember one time in college, Shawn turned in a final paper late but got full credit. On our way to go skiing one morning, he asked if we could make a quick stop. So we detoured our way through campus, where he ran up a set of steps and disappeared into one of the buildings. "Good to go" he'd said, getting back in the car.

"What'd your professor say?" I'd asked.

"Oh, they weren't there" Shawn had replied. "I wedged my paper under their door."

I'd been in a similar situation of trying to turn in an overdue paper in a different class and had far less luck than Shawn's "wedge-n-wave" approach.

Another time, when he and I were ski instructors in Jackson Hole, he'd been running late for work. So he texted our friend to tell our boss he was stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic. The problem is that there's only one road in and out of Jackson Hole, and it's visible from where we were all standing. On that particularly sunny and clear day, there wasn't a car to be seen. Our boss even asked "is he sure that's what he wants to go with?"

"Yep."

After arriving almost an hour late, Shawn landed the best client assignment that day. Our friend had been three minutes late another time that season and was reprimanded.

From what I gather, luck that can't be generated with preparation can be conjured with attitude, apparently. I'd been feeling pretty good about myself this morning at the car dealership. I was early for my 7:30am appointment, with only one person ahead of me in the drop off line. With my thumbs and fingers drumming lightly on the wheel, I did some mental math. I was there to get my snow tires put on and get a new state inspection sticker. They always said it'd be a couple hours, but it usually took a bit less. Given my spot in line, I figured I might be out of there in an hour—maybe an hour and a half, tops.

"You'll fail an inspection if we do one today" the tech told me.

Completely stunned, all I managed to say was "...huh? Why??"

It didn't make sense. My truck's in good shape. It's only a few years old and I stay up-to-date on routine maintenance. That's when I'd realized my registration was expired. No registration, no sticker. I'd renewed online earlier this year. Or, so I thought. It never went through. And I never noticed that the paper copy hadn't shown up in the mail. So, the tech and I tried to renew it online again today. That's when we learned the Vermont DMV's online services are suspended due to the government shut down.

By 7:45am, I was on the phone. Second in line again, but this time waiting to talk to a real person at the DMV. If I'd held better boundaries and juggled fewer things, I'd never have overlooked the registration lapse in the first place.

"It is what it is" I told myself. 

Luckily, by the time 8:30am rolled around, I once again had an active registration.