Hello all.

It is due to recent, slightly unfortunate events that I came up with today’s post headline.

When I left my job at Smuin Ballet this morning, I walked out to my car to find a note, and a very flat back tire. So flat that the rubber had puddled on the ground around it. Ever seen one of those? Well, that was my tire- comically deflated while simultaneously giving me the middle finger. I’ve changed a tire before, but always with someone else around to help, so I didn’t trust myself to do it properly. I had to wait almost two hours under a freeway overpass before AAA came to my rescue. It was a miserable way to spend an afternoon, quite frankly. I did, however, get quite a bit of thinking done. I wondered why the universe had sent me yet another flat tire (the last one was three weeks ago), and why, especially when I made an extra effort to be on top of things, something always seems to go awry. I came to these conclusions:

Sometimes, life gives you a flat tire just to show you that there are some decent people out there. If that person hadn’t made a little extra effort on their morning commute, I might have attempted to drive on without noticing my flat. I could have damaged my car, or even gotten into an accident on my way home. Thanks, whoever-you-are. Sorry about your pen.

Sometimes, life gives you a flat tire when you feel yourself getting complacent. You know what’s worse than having a flat? Having no job to commute to and no one to call when things go wrong. I had more people than I could count who would listen to me bitch about something as silly as a tire.

Sometimes, life gives you a flat tire when you think everything is falling into place. Don’t feel bad, or stupid about being fleetingly happy where you are, but know that these little dips in the road are a part of life. It’s like Isadora Duncan said: “the deeper the sorrow, the more colorful the joy.”

Sometimes, life gives you a flat tire when you have places to be and things to do. Your annoying flat tire is teaching you to roll with the punches. Do as much as you can, and remember that you often can’t control what happens to you. But, you can control the kind of person you become when bad things happen.

Sometimes, life gives you a flat tire when you least expect it. See, I thought my tire was perfectly fine. I had it checked less than a month ago. Sometimes, even when you think you’re being smart about your decisions the universe has other things in mind for you. Your flat tire might come in many different shapes and sizes, but don’t let it stop you.

Fix it, and just keep going.

EVA♥