I Backed My Car into a Cop Car the Other Day

It seems that I’m only inspired to write a blog entry when I hear a good song. Actually, if you read a much older blog I have posted on here somewhere, you’d already know that. But I digress.

In relation to my most recent blog, I’ve been thinking more and more about this “40 Day Lifestyle” that I’m determined to achieve. Every day (and especially every Sunday), I gain more insight into how to go about living every day to the fullest; learning not to rely on accomplishments to benchmark my days, but my relationships. I’m more conscious now of not only how I treat people and respond to them, but how I let them affect me as well.

I was in the car the other day driving my all-too-familiar Centreville to Arlington route, when one of my favorite songs came on the radio: Float On by Modest Mouse. The great thing about this song is that if you don’t look up the lyrics, you probably have no idea of what the song is really about. Or if you know the lyrics, you might be thinking, “What a cheesy song. All they say is ‘And we’ll all float on, ok.’” But as the old Jewish man at the end of Coming to America would say, “Akh ha!!” That’s exactly my point. We’ll all float on, ok.

I was reminiscing (reminiscing? that has a nice connotation…more like rehashing) with a coworker the other day about my first few months on the job. I had the unfortunate experience of being picked-up by a not-so-great manager. In short and without too much detail (since I just finished training on minimizing liabilities and risk), I was put on a few back-to-back assignments where I felt like I had been dropped in the middle of the ocean…at night…with no flotation device…and sharks were swimming around me. I was alone, didn’t have the slightest idea of what I was doing, and I had no one to look to for guidance. Knowing my “quit at the first sign of trouble” personality, I’m surprised I didn’t hand in my 2 weeks notice.

What I remember clearly about that time was that every day, I went home, and everything was ok. Despite what happened between 9 am and 5 pm, it didn’t matter when I got home. Without realizing it until now, I had grasped the idea of “floating on.” I did my job as best as I could with the cards that were dealt, and God took care of the rest. Nothing could touch me.
Why don’t we live like this every day? Why do we let one person or one circumstance dictate how we feel beyond an instant?

Nothing of this world should be able to take away the peace that comes with knowing that we’ve lived each day to the fullest; ironically, we’re the only ones who can make that decision.

Float On, Modest Mouse