"Life is a Highway...I want to ride it all night long"

By Stephen C. Schultz

My business partner and I recently took a business trip to Bend Oregon. We decided to drive. We got into town just as a snow storm came into town. It was literally a “Winter Wonderland” with cold, crisp air and fluffy snow.

We spent the next day in meetings and the trip was very productive.

Thursday, the day we were headed back home, turned out to be quite eventful. We headed out of town early on our way to Ontario, Oregon for a noontime appointment. It was about 6:55am and we were 10 miles out of town, headed east.

The sky was beautiful. The pale morning light and wispy clouds glowed while the last shimmering stars started to fade. The pines were silhouetted against the horizon and the center line in the road pulsed past with a rhythmic beat.

We were doing about 60 mph when suddenly and without warning Brent and I were rocked out of our conversation and the car exploded upward and to the right. The car rocked right, then left then right again. I was able to maintain control and slowly drift to the edge of the road. We had hit some debris in the road, but did not know what. The front left tire was flat and the rim bent. The left rear rim was visibly bent. We hit some split firewood that had probably fallen off someone’s trailer. The light was such that neither Brent nor I even saw it.

We were able to get the car towed back to Bend and into a repair shop. We got back on the road in a couple of hours.

I was reminded as I thought about this experience, that "Life's Highway" brings with it "Natural Beauty" as well as "Obstacle's and Hazards". It is our choice how we respond. The purpose of life isn't to find fault or place blame, but to manage, correct, improve and overcome life’s obstacles as we are faced with them. We also have the opportunity to recognize and appreciate life's beauty. No doubt, there are injustices in life and many events or situations we endure are not fair. However, our happiness is ultimately determined by our own attitude and perspective on life's events, not by external forces.

In the words of Rascal Flats; "Life is a highway...I want to ride it all night long!"

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