Now that we’re on our way on this Lifetrip, what do we do next? I know it’s a cliché, but we should just “enjoy the ride.” Going back to the trip to visit my brother in California, it was a lot of fun. We drove along the west coast by the Pacific Ocean. Stopping in one of the towns along the water, we took a walk and enjoy the scenery. The moist cool breeze and the gentle rhythm of the tide were quite soothing and peaceful. One of the destinations was Crater Lake in Oregon. It was such an awe-inspiring sight to see. Any attempt to describe the beauty of the luscious indigo bed of water with a backdrop of snow-covered summits would be an understatement.

Although the destination is where we want to be, the journey to get there can offer tremendous life experiences. The road trip went smoothly and we were able to spend quality time with my brother. On our way back though, the engine of our Jeep started to sputter. At first, we did not think much of it since it would drive just fine after we let the engine cool off. But the sputtering got worse and the engine started to shut off after a while. We were in the middle of nowhere so we had no choice but to drive the stop-and-go Jeep to a town where we can spend the night. Early the next morning, we asked around and drove to every mechanic shops we can find. But to no avail, they were all closed on Sunday.

What do we do when things don’t go as planned? What do we do when we are on a road trip and we had to make a decision to solve the problem? Although we only had several hundred miles left to get back home, the Jeep could die in the middle of nowhere if we pushed ahead. But if we waited for a mechanic the next day, it could still be another few days to a week before they could order and get the part to fix it. We decided to take our chance and drove the Jeep home. It was a definite test of patient all the way back as the overworked engine gave its effort and brought us home. We later found out that the oil pump was the culprit. One thing we learned from this experience is that we don’t know the future. Planning ahead helps us focus and prepare. But the real test in life is how we handle the current situation. It’s up to us on how we make it out. So, be our own LifeMechanic and take on the road of life.

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Tags: crater lake, decision making, future, jeep, journey, LifeMechanic, mechanic, pacific ocean, planning, road trip, west coast

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 26th, 2008 at 6:15 am and is filed under Road to Success Series, Success. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.