She was a beauty. An asylum gray, 1974 GMC Sierra pick-up, three on the tree with a steel-to-rust ratio exceeding the standards for any high school male driver. An after-market, personally installed, Alpine stereo in the dash with her bench seat adorned in a woven seat cover that felt more like steel wool than cashmere, sliding forward to reveal big box speakers leaving just enough room for a Stroh's 30 pack on a pleasant summer evening in the woods of Massachusetts.
What a truck! I wish I still had her today, with one exception. She always seemed to break down at just the wrong time. In hindsight, it provided me with ample opportunity to learn how to fix the basics. I just never learned the art of preventative maintenance. Generally, I would drive it hard until something would break, then get frustrated and react. I remember one day, cruising down Shepherd Road with Springsteen blaring the sounds of youthful dreams, when smoke started billowing out of the hood in front of me. For some reason, she just decided to quit. Overheated.
I checked the coolant levels and they appeared okay so after an impatient wait and burning my hands on the cap, I poured water directly into the radiator and got it running again. We limped over to Verne at the Sunoco station who diagnosed it with a busted thermostat. It just didn't know how to cool itself off anymore.
Ever feel that way? Just grinding so hard for so long that you start to feel steam pouring out of your hood? Ever running so hot whoever tries to help or point out a problem risks getting burned? Ever forgot to exercise a little preventative maintenance and things start breaking down more often? Me too. Pay attention to the gauges, it's time to rest.
"So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation." (Genesis 2:1-3)
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy (whoever Jack is). Don't get me wrong, I am a true believer that most people don't recognize opportunities when they see them because they are disguised in hard work. That said, I also know that sometimes you need to retreat to advance. If you want the mental, physical, and emotional energy to take advantage of those opportunities you need to step back every now and then, rest, and fill your tank.
Check your schedule and see that you have adequate time for rest, self-care, or preventative maintenance. If your thermostat goes bad and you forget how to cool your engines, it is going to overheat and blow eventually, and people you care about will get hurt.
Be sure to check your levels every day and fill up as necessary.
Even God took time every week to rest...and news flash...you aren't God...
While your hungry heart may want to speed down Thunder Road all day if you want to avoid taking one step up and two steps back, you will need to sit by the river with your feet up every now and then.
