The lessons you learn

There are lessons that are meant to be learned in that moment. And then there is lessons that you are meant to hold onto, placing them in your back pocket.

I had a couple near misses this morning - near misses - the phrase itself makes me laugh because it is something that our safety department uses and now here, I am quoting the same phrase from my job LOL. How proud they would be.

I rounded a corner coming down a steep hill going to work this morning and in the middle of the decent were two baby deer's playing in the middle of the road. As soon as they spotted my headlights, they ran in separate directions to the sanctuary of the grass.

My initial instinct is probably what most of us do - slam on the brakes. Of course, the hill I was on was a sheet of black ice, so the car refused to stop. You know that ice...it has a mind of its own! But lucky for me since I was descending it, I could see if anyone was coming down the other side of the hill - which no one was. So, I kept inching my car to the middle of the road in case one of the little buggers got to the edge of the grass and decided to do a 360 on me. This way that would hopefully give them enough time and me to get past without colliding. Like any almost accident your hands and knees are left shaking. Your belly climbs to your throat. And you feel like you may have shat yourself.

By the time I reached maybe ten minutes down I had almost forgotten the incident and calmed down until that is Rudolph without his red nose came flying over the barrier of a highway. At this point I am like, "What is HAPPENING?" He hit the ground (fast lane) still bounding towards my car only to leap up in the air, soaring over the hood of my car. 

I have to be honest for a split second I did look around for...no... not another deer but for Santa's sled.

Why did they say the chicken crossed the road? To get to the other side. Yeah - well that's the same for the deer - they just always have their eyes on the prize which is getting to the other side. But I have to say they are evolving and getting smarter. The other day my father and I were driving and there was a deer and when she saw our car coming, she backed up into the grass (as if knowing the grass was the safe zone) and seemed like she was going to wait until we passed but instead, we slowed the car down and came to a stop and then once she recognized that - which was fairly quickly - she jogged across, right past the car.

So, you know how the saying goes - things happen in threes - I was sure that I would get my third four-legged friend today and when I did my near misses would turn into an actual hit. The good news is I ended up making it to work with no more deer run ins. Maybe the two babies and the doe counted as all three happenings.

In other news...

A colleague came to me yesterday and told me he had good news to tell me - to which I, in my current state - snorted in disbelief and asked what that could possibly be. He then proceeded to tell me that I inspired someone. It just so happened to be one of our outside contacts that we would call in for programming issues. Awhile back when I first met him my colleague had told him how I just self-published my first novel. Discovering this he admitted he too had been writing one - but took a break from it and there it sat unfinished. His dream was to complete it and get it published. To which I encouraged him to do so! He told me then that I inspired him to want to do so. 

And so that is the exact words my colleague repeated to me as he explained to me the conversation they had. He said that hearing my story inspired him to finish his and he did. It is due to come out in March. Congrats Derrick - enjoy this time!

If I didn't do anything else in my life but inspire others to fulfill their dreams - I am truly honored. 

Stay safe out there && as always, I appreciate ya!