We've all noticed that light.
.jpg)
We see it and often think, "hhhmmm let's see if it goes away," or "maybe it's nothing," trying to talk ourselves into best case scenario, but it's on.
We get home, turn the car off, "we'll see how it is tomorrow," head inside and forget all about it.
"We'll see how it is tomorrow." Procrastination.
Ignoring the signals, denial and disbelief.
The next morning, the light wasn't immediately there, the day started right. Our entire commute was good, no troubles. We then go through the day, walk out to the car to head back home, car starts right up... "see, it was nothing." Then we catch a little traffic and we're idling. Standstill to 5mph back to standstill. Oooh some daylight, maybe the jam is over, up to 15mph... nope, back to 5mph.
Then the light turns back on.
Shit. Now you're nervous. This is NOT the place to have car trouble, center lane on the busiest highway in the city, rush hour. Not here, not now.
But it's our fault. The light was on yesterday. We saw it, we denied it, we thought we knew better than the signal. "We'll see how it goes." Well here it is, and not only is the light on, the gauges are starting to read high and you're wondering, "Do I need an oil change? Did I miss a recall notice? Did I drive too hard, did I do this?"
Maybe you get angry and hit the wheel, "Damn car!"
But the light was on. The sign was there. You chose to ignore it.
Damn car.
Damn knee.
Damn job.
Damn husband.
Damn dog.
Right?
Damn coworker.
Damn coach.
Damn headache.
Damn kids.
Too often, we find ourselves in situations of stress, trouble, injury, turmoil, because we ignore the check engine lights. Sometimes they're subtle. Sometimes it's slow text response, sometimes it's just a minor pinch of pain, sometimes it's just an odd behavior we chalk up to a bad day, but the light was there. Instead of checking under the hood or taking it in to a specialist, we said, "We'll see how it is tomorrow," or "Maybe it goes away," or better yet, "Maybe it's nothing."
Sometimes it's an alarm. It's loud, it shocks us out of our seat. But even then we sit back too often in disbelief... "did I just see what I think I saw?" "Did I hear that right?"
Check under the hood. Handle the maintenance.
Stretch, eat right and get sleep. Talk, clear the air and be honest. Get the knee looked at when you have that pinch. Go to the doc if you're having headaches more often. Have that 1 on 1 with a coworker and get right. Examine your thoughts, your goals, your personal why and make sure the system is in alignment.
Don't ignore the light, the rusted signs, the instincts, and end up broken down in the middle of nowhere.
