Perspective: I Let My Emotions Control Me

If you know me, you know that I love my things. It’s probably an unhealthy attachment, but whatever, it’s my thing. So for my 35th birthday, I spoiled myself and leased a brand new metallic black BMW X5 MSport. It’s way more than I should have spent on a car, but I love it dearly. I’ve been taking care of my baby like it’s my third child, and in my wacked head, it is my child.

Anyways, I was at Home Goods buying some fake plants to spruce up the kitchen when I got back to my car and noticed something off about the passenger side door. It was a massive dent that was right down to the metal. In that moment, I lost control of myself. WHO HAD THE NERVE TO HIT MY CAR AND JUST DO NOTHING ABOUT IT! Upon further inspection, I saw the perpetrator was still there, a maroon colored Lincoln. I could see their delinquent shaded paint still embedded in my door.

So I put my very confused daughter in the car and began a long series of curses while I took 100 photos of the car, their license plate and waited angrily and patiently. People were looking at me like I was mentally unstable and I didn’t care. I waited and waited, but they never showed. Where were these criminals?!!! After 15 minutes, I left still fuming. I was mad and I WANTED BLOOD.

I called my insurance company and they advised me to file a police report, so this person could be charged with hit and run. Okay, that’s a littttllleeee ridiculous. I was so mad, I contemplated for about 15 seconds what this person would look like paying penance for hitting my beautiful pristine “third child”. I was so out of sorts, I accidentally dropped my bags on the ground, breaking the elephant statue I just bought. (Yes, I had already formed an emotional attachment to that elephant like I’m straight up out of “The Glass Menagerie”. ) I thought to myself. JUST GREAT, THIS DAY IS GETTING WORSE! ARGHHH!!!! THIS PERSON IS RUINING MY DAY!!

Before entering the house, I took a minute to look at my phone and read a message from my dear coworker. She’d been having a terrible week with some unfortunate events and I was hoping she was letting me know of something good finally happening! Well she wasn’t. Someone had run a red light and totaled her brand new beautiful car. OMGGGG!!!!! NOOO!!!! IS SHE OKAY?! IS THE OTHER DRIVER OKAY?! I COULDN’T BELIEVE THIS HAPPENED ALONG WITH EVERYTHING ELSE FROM THE WEEK!!

In that moment, I snapped out of it, thinking to myself, WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!! I was literally ashamed of myself. Here I am, acting like a ranging psychopath over this teeny tiny little dent and someone I know literally just had their car shredded like a tin can. And since I am a Thinker, not a Feeler, you’d think that I wouldn’t let my emotions control me. In this instance they did, and I LET THEM. I got too caught up in the emotion of the moment and forget to remember that life is all about perspective. Someone else on the planet definitely has it worse than me, so seriously, this is not a big deal.

This little dent can be covered with paint, and yes, I’ve accepted that my car is no longer perfect. At the end of the day, no one was hurt. My coworker was okay. WE ARE ALL OKAY. I swiftly opened up Amazon Prime, bought some touchup paint and went about my day like nothing had happened. I would no longer be thinking about this little dent as a flaw to my “perfect” life, but as a reminder that I shouldn’t let my emotions control my perspective. I reminded myself how lucky and blessed I am with my car, my home, my job, my family, and my life. Life’s too short to freak out about these little dents. IT’S GONNA BE FULL OF ‘EM.