Advice From My Car

Written by: Anwar

Hall of Famer, John Wooden once said, “Don’t let making a living prevent you from making a life.” Recently, and I mean roughly 3 months recent, life, as always, has been a whirlwind (to say the least) except unlike other months since starting this blogging ordeal, school started, basketball is back in full swing, and I’ve finally learned how to commit to my own health and well-being.

Let me tell you something, if you haven’t noticed the obvious, life FLIES by. We find it so hard to catch up with time (even with the extra hour we received a few weeks ago).

Here is my point… a few days ago, when driving home from basketball practice, I happen to glance at my dash board, in which not one, not two, but THREE service lights were lit and glaring in my direction. GREAT! On top of all this craziness of life (and I wouldn’t want it any other way), I now have to figure out why my newly replaced breaks were triggering the BREAK service lights to appear. Not only that, but my GAS service light was glaring at me too. Usually my gas light appears when it’s near the last hash mark of the meter. THIS was DIFFERENT. It appeared and I still had well over 1/4 of a tank of gas left. This can easily take me to downtown and back roughly 2 solid times, no joke. Lastly, my tire pressure light went on! Oh my goodness! What did this mean???? Tires are low on air… 🤷🏽‍♀️ most likely because of the cold weather, but if you’re from Cleveland YOU KNOW that this is not the only cold day of weather we’ve had, but why today? Why did all these service lights decide to shine all at once?

At first, I did what I typically do when anything happens to my car…. nothing 😆. I was so confused, and finally after really thinking it through, my first action was to call my brother, who is my go-to for cars. Although, before acting upon instinct, I literally stopped at the next stop sign (how about that for irony LOL), and thought, “my little Subaru is giving me indirect advice about life.” Why else would my break light flash, my gas light stare me down, and my air pressure tire light glimmer in my direction?

Before we go on, if you don’t know me, sorry because you’re missing out 😝. Just kidding, I’m just feeling a little sassy today… but really if you don’t know me, you don’t know that once fall and winter entertains my daily schedule, I DO NOT STOP and I seriously have no clue about time. This is clearly by choice. I probably take on more than I should or maybe I need to manage my time better. I’m definitely thankful either way because it’s all about life’s learning experiences and the relationships you build along the way. Although, day by day thoughts run through my head like, “I hope I don’t miss my niece or nephew uttering any new words” or ” I hope I don’t miss my nephew take his first crawl”, or “my best friend is in town and I need to find an hour this week to be able to see her”, or even simply thinking about gathering with my family. These are all thoughts that ponder through my mind and I know I can’t be the only one feeling like this. This is daily life for most of us. Most times it’s rough, but that’s just the reason why we must learn to cherish every moment.

This is what brought me to share advice from my Subaru. She’s absolutely right. School matters, work matters, friends matter, and family is always first, but we live in a world where we are taught very young to make sacrifices in order to make a living. Don’t get me wrong. My job makes me happy, and so does basketball, and I love my friends and family, but don’t wait for advice from a car to remind you that you need to slam on the breaks, refuel on the importance of life, and to just breathe for that fresh air we often yearn for. Give yourself time, the time that you earned to keep close ties with those that rely on you, and to create endless memories with those who matter, and to never forget how and where it all started.

Now I’ve always believed that there’s no such thing as coincidence, so here is what I gathered in short:

Slooooow down, take a BREAK because you’re running out of GAS. Lastly, if you feel like you’re running out of AIR due to life’s PRESSURES, just take it easy, and breathe. Like me, if you’re feeling overwhelmed with life, I recommend taking the advice of my car.

Ladies and gentleman, no matter how crazy life gets, make time to stop and refuel. Make time for yourself, your family, and the people in life that matter. We often hear that LIFE is TOO short, but those four words could not be more true. Therefore I remind you once again of basketball great, John Wooden’s wise words, “Don’t let making a living prevent you from making a life.” AND, check up on your cars every once in a while. They need to be maintained too!!!! 🤣