This is a story about following through. A reminder to be dependable and only say what you mean.

Last week some friends and I visited Banff and Jasper National Parks in Alberta, Canada. It is gorgeous. Go there.

One of our days, we decided to pull over at an unmarked overlook. We walked a small trail that took us to one of the many lakes in the area. It was raining. It was muddy. But it was still beautiful.

Now let’s take a step back and switch gears. Do you know of that little trick with panorama pictures where you can end up in multiple frames of the image? Essentially you just have to hold your pose, then run into the next frame, hold your pose, run, hold, run, and so on. It’s pretty simple - but for us amateurs it takes a while to get a clean shot.

Back to the story. I was camerawoman this time as we attempted a neato pano photo by the lake. Remember I mentioned rain and mud? Yea. So as cameragal, safely planted on my feet, I told my friends “if either of you slips on that mud, you’d better hold it, do it for the ‘gram*” You know - so we’d get it in the panorama and it’d be hilarious.

Well I’m an amateur and the whole pano process wasn’t working for me. So I asked my friends to try so that we could see if it was me or if it was the phone. (Turns out it wasn’t me.) But that means suddenly I was in front of the camera. And this happened. And I held it. For the ‘gram.

*something the kids say

Last Wednesday I woke up to hundreds of ants in my kitchen, specifically invading my pantry. It was one of those, “Oh you have got to be kidding me!” moments. Needless to say, I was late to work and had to throw out every sugary item in my pantry. 

I thought the week could only get better from there. Uh, wrong. On my way home from the gym Thursday night, my right rear tire went off the road slightly on a section where there’s about a 6 inch drop from the paved road to the gravel on the shoulder. After a loud bang, then a pop, I pulled over to find my tire was flat. Let me tell you, it’s fun stuff changing a tire at 10:30pm on the shoulder of a pitch-black, two-lane road (please excuse my sarcasm). At this point I’m thinking it’s only going to cost me about $150 to replace the tire and everything will be all good. Once again I was wrong.

The next morning I arrive at the tire shop and find out that the rim is bent. As I make my way on the freeway to pick up a new rim from the dealer, a rock hits my windshield and immediately a dime sized chip surfaces. Oh, and the rim set me back another $450.

So last week was rough, not so much because of what transpired, but that it all transpired within 48 hours. My anxiety was through the roof with the unsettling anticipation of something else bad happening; however, I took a few moments to step back and assess my situation. I realized that things could have been much worse and that I still had everything that matters most: my loved ones, my health and my safety. After completing this assessment I couldn’t help but smile with satisfaction, knowing that I wasn’t going to let the unfortunate things in life consume me and ruin my weekend.

Unfortunate events, regardless of magnitude, will take place in our lives. In these moments it's good to count your blessings and remember that your attitude often dictates your outcome.