I clutched the steering wheel for dear life.
Just earlier that day, Josh called me to say a tire had blown out while he was on the bridge on his way to work…
The bridges in our city are built high for boats to pass underneath – high enough for you to not see the other side till you get to the top.
I could only thank God that his car didn’t go flying into the water. He managed to make it down the bridge, then pulled off to the side of the highway.
Now, I’m frantic. I’m calling all the family members available to help. Josh’s grandpa comes to pick me up and we go about getting new tires for the car…tell me why this nearly 90-yr old man thinks he also needs to drive nearly 90 mph.
We made it safely and by the time Josh changed the tires, the whole morning was gone.
Cue post-traumatic stress.
Josh was scheduled to work on another side of town, 20 minutes from home. He tried to hold it together enough to do his work and I stayed because I just wanted to be near my husband after all that.
I decided to do some Instacart deliveries while he worked his shift but I had never driven around this side of town myself before, and the roads worked very differently.
I was missing exits, taking forever to merge into speeding traffic, wasn’t sure if I was in the right lane, and very soon realized that I’d been holding onto the steering wheel for dear life.
Maybe I was still just shaken up from the morning, but I said to myself, “KemZ, you know how to drive. Just because you’re in a new setting doesn’t mean you don’t know how to do this. Give yourself some grace, make your mistakes, and you’ll figure this out. You already have what it takes.”
That reminder instantly improved my confidence.
I eased up on the wheel, looked at the map again, and trusted myself.
Before I knew it, I was at the grocery store.
Better still, this store seemed waayyy nicer than the one on our side of town.
Aaaanndd, they had a larger variety of sweets, with a lot of the chocolate desserts on clearance. This was now officially a GREAT day.
I called Josh and said, “babe, y’know how we’ve had such a hard start to today and we’re dealing with post-traumatic stress? Y’know, I really think we should show ourselves some love and get the sweets we deserve…” (you get where this is going).
After asking how much we were about to spend on sweets, he caved in too and agreed that this was the perfect day to just enjoy ourselves.
I got every single thing I wanted: chocolate tartufo, lemon-filled mini cupcakes, white chocolate raspberry cheesecake, Arizonas…all of it!
Then I made my way back to Josh’s workplace – and I didn’t even have to use the map!!
You probably want to get some sweets now (and you always deserve some), but what I really want you to take away from this is that you already have what it takes.
On days when your fears are riding high and your confidence is running low, remind yourself that:
… you already know what to do,
… you have permission to make mistakes and figure things out,
… and even if you’re facing something new, you already have what it takes to WIN.
So, ease up on your life’s steering wheel, will ya?
To your success, my wise creator!
-- KemZi 🦋
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@CoachKemZisSoapbox