Did you hear about the three drivers that had flat tires on the same road, in the same city, and on the same day?
The first guy got so mad, he left his car sitting there and stormed off. Someone heard him say, “Cars are nothing but trouble. I’m through with them.” His only problem was he had a tough time getting anywhere on time without a car.
The second guy didn’t want to believe he had a flat tire, so he kept driving, even though his car was jerking around and bumping up and down from the flat. After a couple miles, the tire was shredded and fell off. It was now too damaged to fix, which meant he would have to buy a new one. But he kept driving anyway. A couple miles further, he hit a couple potholes and bent his wheel. A wheel’s a lot more expensive to fix than a tire, but it was now ruined too. His repair bill was adding up. But he still kept driving and after a few more miles the rear axel broke. Now we’re getting into serious repair money. By the time he drove a few more miles down the road, the whole backend of his car dropped off the frame. He basically totaled his car by not stopping when he got a flat.
The third guy wasn’t any happier than the first two guys, but he slowed down, pulled off on the shoulder of the road, and stopped the car. He popped the trunk, got out the jack and spare tire. He got a little grease on his nice shirt—it was probably ruined—but within fifteen minutes, he was back on the road, driving his car just like normal. The only thing it cost him was fifteen minutes and the price of a new shirt.
I don’t have to tell you that on the road of life we’ll get a flat tire or two. The question is what are we going to do about a setback that wasn’t our fault or, more importantly, about a mistake we’ve made? We can quit like the first guy. But then we won’t have a car to get around. We can pretend nothing’s happened, but that only makes matters worse. Or we can get out and change the tire.
I think we all know the right thing to do. When you have a setback, get out and change the tire.