A Tad Bit ‘Bout Life

Have you ever felt that on a given day, everything is against you? That luck has simply dumped you? Well, that is what I felt today (Saturday, May 10th, 2008).

The morning started off on a positive note. I slept in until around 7:00, read a bit in bed, stood up, had a tasty breakfast consisting of a spongy croissant (reason being that I was silly enough and microwaved it: absolute madness) with a touch of fine Danish butter and then blessed with a dab of dark-golden honey (of the finest: Austrian honey, the type I ate, is of the most varied and rich, its creamy excellence sets even the most controlled of people drooling. It comes in many different sorts and natures, from Waldhonig, the translation being “Forest honey,” to Blumen honig, flower honey, which in itself is divided into hundreds of subdivisions; tulip, rose, daisy, blue pillow, edelweiss, among others, and many mixes and general samplings of honey. Before I get completely carried away into the mouth-watering subject of Austrian honey, I should probably mention that I was eating the forest honey, and that it is, most unfortunately, time to continue my original topic, luck, and how lousy it can be). Anyway, after finishing my soft honey-croissant, I followed through my typical morning routine (teeth, hair, the usual), and finished packing for the trip (a tad bit late to mention this, but we , being my mother, father, and I, were going to Turrialba, a town in Costa Rica, for a bike race, which I was press-ganged to join–32-50km of biking).

After packing, we quickly loaded the baggage in the car and set off in two different cars (my father was to take a different route). Barely five minutes out of the house, and the trip took a turn for the worse. My mother had forgotten her camera, and we, as might be expected, returned home to fetch it. Rather insignificant an event, it might seem, but it took 20 minutes away from our day.

We continued on, and came onto the highway. Around this time, I was reading a book, called Civilization (it was the first book I picked out of the bookshelf), on world history, and was currently reading about the Byzantine Empire. It was then that disaster gave us a visit. I suddenly heard a loud crunch, and felt my body lurch forward, and the next thing I noticed was my nose hitting the metal bars holding up the little cushion for the head from the driver’s seat. It was then where I realized that I, for the first time, had first-handedly witnessed a car crash. In fact, I was in the car crash.

My mother immediately let out a desperate groan, and stepped out of the car. “Grandiose! Muss dass jetzt passieren? Einfach genial!” She surveyed the damage, and let out another groan. I knew that ahead of us were hours and hours of dealing with insurance and traffic police.

In those hours, I watched the cars go by, read a bit about the Byzantines, and watched the insurance fellow, serious as could be, walking up and down, writing pages upon pages into a little notebook. Luckily, the policeman and the victimized driver were quite friendly, and after all the formalities had been fulfilled, we continued.            

 As you might imagine, after sitting for two hours in a stationary car, drinking water and thirst quenchers simply to alleviate the boredom, my bladder had filled considerably. I held it, as any good citizen should, and requested permission from my mother to stop at a restaurant to relieve myself.

Just then, a torrent of rain descends upon us. Not only am I even more unsettled, knowing that I would have to get drenched, but my urge was increased tenfold because of the flowing water. I had to go. We found a McDonald’s, and decided to fetch some lunch in the process.

I returned, relieved, and very hungry, with a bag of McDonald’s junk food. We ate, didn’t enjoy it, and suffered from a horrible aftertaste of chemicals. I drank so much coke that I had to stop for the bathroom again. The rest of the trip went by smoothly. We went to Casa Turire, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and must recommend.            

Luck is all about positive thinking. Or so states an article written by a Cambridge scientist who researched for twenty years on the subject. Had I thought positively about the trip’s delays (which I did), I would have actually appreciated them. For example, the car crash helped make me more patient, as well as gain an understanding of the procedure to be followed in such circumstances, plus I acquired a bit of knowledge on the Byzantines. The crash will show my mother, I hope, to drive more carefully, as well as patience, such as with me.            

According to the research, luck is what you make of things. People that appear to be lucky tend to make the best out of situations, spotting things that others don’t and using them properly. So, think positively.