bumps...all about perspective...

think back a bit, picture yourself as a kid riding in your parents' car. you probably didn't have to wear a seatbelt, and it was legal for you to ride in the back of the station wagon or bed of a pick-up truck. our family had an international travelall, it looked exactly like this bad boy pictured here...
this was the granddaddy of the SUV and crossover. (and it may just be the reason i really want my dream car)

when my parents brought the travelall home, my little brother and i thought it was the most amazing vehicle ever made! (and we already had a vw bug, which was almost as amazing...) we would ride in the "way back" and alternate between lying down, as we would drive down the bumpy gravel roads of rural kansas, and people watching. (you know the kind, we were the kids who would make faces at people, wave at everyone, and sometimes pretend we were hiding from all of the "bad guys" who were riding in all of the other cars on the street.) we would pretend that our family was living out of that car and traveling all over the country to see all of the great sights...the grand canyon, old faithful, yosemite, niagara falls, mt. rushmore...you name it, we pretended we were there, camping out of our car along the way.

back then, bumps were fun. driving on a road through rolling hills was even better. if we were driving on a "washboard" road, we would make noise and let the bumps rattle our bodies so it sounded like we were stuttering.

as we grow up, driving down bumpy roads becomes annoying. we worry about the damage to our cars, whether or not we'll have to head for the carwash afterward, and get exasperated when it's so bumpy we actually have to slow down...we're always in a hurry as adults, you know.

in the past couple of years, our family has hit almost every "bump" you can imagine...it's hard not to get annoyed when they come along, but i'm learning. when damage is done, i look for ways to fix it and not let it happen again. if it's "dirty", i clean up the mess and move on. and more than anything, i've learned to slow down and learn from it. i have found that if i take the time to enjoy life's bumps and work on my perspective of them, rather than getting sucked into the moment (which always passes, quickly even), it makes the ride much more enjoyable.

hang on and enjoy the ride, bumps and all!