What If Everything Goes Right?
Hello, Friend!
I hope you’ve been able to get out and enjoy some of this fantastic weather we’ve been having. We haven’t had a stretch this nice in quite a while. I’m starting to detect some red and yellow hues in the tree canopies around town. Of course, more leaves drop each week. About a month ago, I wrote about the concept of Good, Bad, Who Knows? A great example of this concept played out for me this past Wednesday.
I’ve been doing some volunteer work, driving older people to doctor’s appointments, running errands, etc. Last Wednesday I took a lovely 91-year old woman to a dentist appointment. It was so nice that I rolled the windows down on my car and waited there, reading and writing. After about an hour, she walked out of the dentist’s office and got back in the car. I went to start it, and was met with just a repetitive click-click-click sound. Hmm…what to do? This was the first time I worked with this particular person, and I’m a little embarassed that my car is not cooperating. I quickly decided to hail an Uber. The car arrived in less than ten minutes. I accompanied my charge back to her home, then had the Uber return me my car.
On the way back, the Uber driver said “I have a friend who drives a tow truck. He says that most tows could be avoided. The issue is often just a battery problem. I have jumper cables - maybe we should try to use them to start your car, then you can get your battery tested.” So that’s what we did - he attached the jumper cables, and my car started up immediately. There was an AutoZone store just across the street from the dentist. I cruised right over and had the battery tested (it was dead). Within just a few minutes I had a new battery and was able to grab some lunch before visiting my 1pm “client” to take her to the post office and grocery store.
In a span of thirty minutes, I went from thinking my whole day had been turned upside down, to being back on track. It was a great reminder that sometimes things go better than expected. I’ve lived long enough to experience real setbacks. It probably has made me a bit defensive, scanning the horizon too much for adversity, and not enough for good fortune. Wednesday’s experience reminded me to ask “What could go RIGHT?” in addition to “What can go wrong?”
This isn’t to say we should go through life with blithe optimism. I’m suggesting something different - we should think through the best case scenario, just in case it happens. To not walk our minds through best-case situations might leave us unprepared when they present themselves - and they sometimes will appear. We could botch it for lack of imagination.
It sure can’t hurt to consider best-case scenarios. Just ask the Ohio State football team - who manufactured a 65-yard touchdown drive to win their game at the end of last night's game against Notre Dame. Sometimes, through some combination of grit and luck, things work out.
Sunday Supper
This week I’m sharing a dish that I cooked this past Tuesday - Sloppy Jais. Think Sloppy Joe, with Indian flavors and some spicy Serrano pepper (easily omitted if you don’t like spicy food). I served this with sweet potato wedges coated in a little olive oil and some of Monika Arora’s Indian spice blend sprinkled on them - these were a perfect complement to the sandwich! Give 'em a whirl.
Sunday Music
This Sunday I am happy to share with you this recently-released trio performance of Why Am I Treated So Bad, a song I first heard performed by the saxophone great Cannonball Adderley. The performers are all-stars: Questlove on drums, Christian McBride on bass, and Norah Jones on keyboards and vocals. Enjoy!
Have a great week ahead! Offer support to others. Make good use of this day. And let me know how I can help.
Peace & Love,
Neal