The Story of the Flat Tire and Why It Didn’t Piss Me Off
Last week, Ankur and I were in Chicago celebrating my birthday and our anniversary. Ankur had spent several days poring over websites and blogs and discussion forums to make sure he planned the best getaway for us.
He is a very detail-oriented person so he spent hours comparing costs, reading reviews, and selecting the best packages that would ensure we’d get to maximize our few days there.
We reached Chicago on Sunday evening and, while we were unpacking in the hotel room, he shared bits and pieces of our trip itinerary with me. (He wanted to leave some of it a surprise). He had thoughtfully planned out our schedule – allotting a certain amount of time for commuting to the downtown area, walking from place to place, and spending at each site. Down to the very minute.
We both went to sleep on Sunday night, eager for what was to come – as neither of us had been to Chicago before. After eating breakfast at the hotel, we got in the car and pulled up Waze to figure out how long it would take us to get into the city. Ankur, looking down at his phone, appeared satisfied. Everything was going according to plan and we had missed the traffic from the morning commute.
The Drive
With our audiobook up and running, we started driving out of the parking lot, ready to explore the Windy City.
Right as I turned on the freeway, my car made a popping sound. At first, I thought it was just my tennis racket and shoes rolling around in the trunk. After about a minute on the freeway, the steering wheel started shaking and the smell of burnt rubber filled the car.
Fortunately, we were driving in the right lane. So I was able to safely pull over to the shoulder and turn the car off. Ankur got out to check my tires and, sure enough, one of them had busted completely. With my hands trembling, I searched through my purse for my AAA card to call for roadside assistance. I’ve gotten a flat tire before, but I’ve never had it happen to me on a busy freeway. All I could think about was a random statistic I had learned in driving school over 15 years ago. 10% of wrecks involve a vehicle parked on the shoulder. I was terrified – even if I was in the safety of my car. I could feel the car vibrating as cars and trucks zoomed by us at 70-80 mph.
The Wait
For an hour, we stayed in the hot, stuffy car. Ankur wanted to open the windows, but I felt like the noise of the oncoming cars was already scary enough with the windows rolled up.
After about an hour, the guy from AAA rolled up behind us and swapped out the tire for a spare. We thanked him and then quickly found the closest Costco to get a new tire for my car. On the drive over to Costco, Ankur pulled up his itinerary and looked a little disheartened.
Despite what we had initially thought in the morning, things were not going according to plan. Not at all. I could have been frustrated. I could have cursed my damn tires. Or the guy at the Honda dealership who promised he had patched up the nail in my tire a couple weeks prior so it was “as good as new.”
Instead, I did the opposite. I told Ankur how lucky we were. I thanked God that it was a small, easily repairable thing.
The Lesson: Make Negative into Positive
I was just so grateful that things worked out that way they did. I visualized how everything could have gone so differently. What if I was in the left lane and tried to quickly switch over lanes and caused an accident? What if the tire had actually popped, causing us to slam into another car? Or what if this had happened on our drive home in the middle of nowhere while it was dark outside?
Sure, I was scared while we waited it out on the shoulder.
But that fear is so trivial compared to all the things that could have happened.
We were reminded, yet again, that things happen for a reason. And, instead of feeling anger or harboring resentment or being pissed that our schedule for the day was ruined, we stepped back and realized that things could have been a whole lot worse.
It’s all a matter of perspective.
Questions of the Day:
- Do you know how to change a tire?
- Do you believe everything happens for a reason?
YESSSS I SO SO SO TRY TO EMPLOY PERSPECTIVE IN ALL THINGS THESE DAYS.
Especially the ‘there are no accidents. what’s the REASON I can find here?”
So true. When I was going to take one of my teacher certification tests, I spun out over 2 lanes (the weather had changed from rain to freezing rain before I could even register it) of traffic and ended up on a steep hill. I was unable to back up (since my car just slid more down the hill). I ended up calling my Dad, then AAA. AAA got my car out, and my Dad drove me to the test while my mom drove the other car. I was super late to the test (as were many other people). But thankfully I passed. At any rate, I thank God that there was no one on the road at the time (since it was like 6am in the morning), because it could have been far, far, worse. As we went to the test, there were so many cars spun out on the side of the road.
Oh gosh, that sounds terrifying! I’m glad you made it out OK and ALSO glad you passed the test! That kind of thing would shake me up so much that I imagine it’d be hard to focus.
Love that you’re looking at the positive. We all need to spend more time doing that, life would be so much different if we did! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Good for you focusing on the positive instead of the negative. That is scary getting a flat on the freeway. I have gotten several flats over the years, but I always had my road side assistance change it.
I seriously cannot thank my mom enough for emphasizing the importance of roadside assistance! It’s come in handy SO many times.
I like to think that things happen for a reason. It’s definitely a good attitude to have – try and focus on the positives of a situation. I do my best!
No, I don’t know how to change a tire! Handy skill to have, I’d imagine!
Love love love this!!!!!! I to take negative situations and find the good in them. Every time I do that the outcome is amazing.
very true. In everything that happens to us, we should be grateful for what we do have, and learn from the lessons provided to us! I’ll definitely be adding “Learn to Change a Tire” to my to-do list…
You are absolutely right, you never know what COULD have happened and it definitely could have been a lot worse. Love your positive attitude 🙂
I think it’s huge when you can change your mindset in a crappy situation. Nicely done!
Way to go on making a negative into a positive. I’m pretty sure I’d be a melted puddle of emotion in your shoes, but it sounds like you dusted yourself off and kept on going once everything was fixed. I hope the rest of the trip was fun and uneventful!
Such a good lesson – it’s ALL about mindset. It’s something I’m trying to work on! Rx
Hi Divya! How awesome of you to focus on the positive! I try my best to do this daily! I hope that you had a lovely trip visiting Chicago.
That’s the secret to happiness! I agree, that everything is about perspective. It is not easy to always stay positive but finding calm and living in the moment sure helps. Hope you had fun in Chicago eventually.
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I can’t change my own tire, and this is precisely why I have AAA. 🙂 I’m glad you were safe, and something worse didn’t happen! We’ve had a couple of flat tires and thankfully everything worked out ok.
That is such a valuable thing, to be able to stop for a second before reacting out of hate or anger. I hope you still had a lovely weekend in Chicago!
I love this! It is all about the mindset! My battery died this winter and I had to wait about 30 minutes for AAA to get there and then another 45 minutes to change and test it. I was freaking out in my head until I finally got to my oldest at school who thought it was great to have an adventure with her teacher and the afternoon kids. She taught me a lot about just living in the moment and dealing!
Kids really are the best teachers, aren’t they? 🙂
Such a great post. I have experienced the same problem before and I must say I was scared but putting your mind in positive definitely help. Thank you for sharing this awesome story .
It’s all in how we choose to see things. Stay positive!!
Glass half full kinda-life, yes!!!
Glad you guys are safe! That’s such a scary feeling. We had a tire blow out on our way home from a weekend getaway a couple months ago. We were on the highway, in the mountains and didn’t get very good cell service. Luckily we were able to get a hold of AAA and they made it out in less than an hour, which was shocking because we were still like 30 minutes outside of town. We also had the dogs in the car, so it was stressful, but we tried to look at the positives too and it made me feel better.
Oh gosh, yes. That’s actually a huge fear of mine since we live in an area where cell service isn’t the greatest! Glad everything worked out OK. When we get through these “scary” moments (I put “scary” in quotes because I’m sure other people are rolling their eyes at me for considering this a scary moment!), I just feel so grateful and more appreciative of the little things! <3
Life is all about perspective. I’m so glad that you didn’t let it ruin your trip 🙂
I do believe that things happened for a reason. Inspiring story! I’d have freak out by stress, so I seriously have to learn to turn negative energy to a positive one. Glad to hear that everything worked out in the end and you can still enjoy your trip.
That is such a great perspective to take! It can be so hard. I messaged a friend this morning and said “can I vent for a moment?” and went on to share my crabbiness/frustration. When I finished he said, “I don’t think you’re done” and I said, “I’m not?” He thought there was probably more in me and I said, “no, I’m done. I needed to get it out and I wanted to get it out, but now, I don’t want to focus on the negative, I want to change my mindset and focus on all of the other positive.”
It’s so refreshing to see your positive spin on things. Thank you for sharing 🙂
I’ve been going through a rough time lately and TBH staying positive has been challenging. But you’re absolutely right, there’s no use dwelling on the negative. And no, I would not know how to change a tire even if you paid me lol!
I’m glad this went so smoothly. Running into tire troubles on a busy part of the road can be pretty scary. Roadside assistance is such a lifesaver.
I love that you were able to focus on the positive! It would have been so easy to be mad and upset about it. Great reminder of what’s important in life.
I definitely dont know how to change a tire. I know I know I should really learn at some point.
It’s easy to get lost in the moment and feel anger, resentment, fear, etc…but coming out on the other side and looking at the situation from a different perspective requires skill. Truly!! I’m glad that this experience didn’t ruin your time and that you realized it was simply a minor blip on the adventure 🙂 sounds like you guys had a great trip despite the tire snafu!
This is such a good reminder. I am like Ankur, I want everything planned to the second! And I get so so frustrated when anything disrupts my schedule. Thank you for reminding me to look at the good rather than fixating on the bad.
You are so right, things could have been much worse. So glad you are ok. I had a flat in college, no money, no cc no out in a hick town. Drove up with the tow guy to some dive for a used tire for $25, he put it on, I was on my way. Wow. I always think how lucky I was they were nice folks!
It truly is a matter of perspective. I kinda have the mindset of “to be alive and thrive is dependent on my attitudes and gratitudes.”
This is awesome. I know FOR CERTAIN that I would have started crying about the messed-up plans that my husband had so thoughtfully made, that had gotten derailed by something that shouldn’t have happened. I admire so much that you were able to maintain such an even temperament and a wise perspective throughout a stressful situation–and I hope that the rest of your trip was amazing (and went according to plan)!!
So true! You make your life what it is by how you deal with circumstances. You can’t always control exactly what happens in life, but you can control how you react to it 🙂
I completely agree that it’s all about maintaining perspective and remembering that things could have turned out worse. Such a hard thing to do, especially when you’re on a trip!
This is fabulous. It’s so true — it’s all about perspective!
The word of the year is “Perspective”.
What seems like a disaster often is just a speedbump to be rolled over slowly. Great entry!
I love this perspective. This is exactly how I am. I get super rational and then start planning out how to make it better, without focusing on the inconvenience.
Yes !! Changing negative to positive ! So glad nothing happened other than just a flat, but it must have been quite scary. I keep looking at my front right tire… it needs air !
Damn I need to learn to change a tyre. I’m glad you two are okay. Ankur is so sweet for planning you this surprise.
It really is a matter of perspective! My mother in law always talks about delays being for a good reason… and often tells me that maybe there’s a reason why we shouldn’t have been where we intended to be at that moment 😉
Great post! Me and my Fiance recently ran out of petrol on his motorbike and had to wait for over an hour for the AA to come. But instead of being annoyed and miserable we put on some music, danced about and had a good laugh
The most important thing in life is to avoid the negative and keep positive! 🙂
Dani x | http://www.flourishingfreelancer.com
That’s one of my biggest fears! So glad you were safe and the story ended only with a day that didn’t go as planned. I also love that you focused on the positive in this situation. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in disappointment, annoyance and anger (especially in your situation, if the tire was supposed to be good as new!), but to focus on the good instead of the bad is totally the way to approach a situation like this.
Glad you are safe, I totally believe everything happens for a reason!
I am glad it all turned out okay. This is such a great lesson! 5 years back we were in a car wreck. I was injured but no one else. The ironic thing is as scary as it seemed it forced a change in our family. I learned to let go of the small things and my husband realized how much responsibilities had more forced on me when he had to take over.
Thank you very much for such an informative article.