Facing your fears ---117

One of my biggest fears is driving far distances. I am not a car guy myself, so when it somehow does break down in the middle of nowhere, I am screwed. It also leads to my next biggest fear; getting crushed underneath a car during an oil change. It’s no wonder there are so many services for automobiles.

How did it lead up to this? It is 1994, just your regular 18 year old trying to have some fun with a date. I was visiting a friend in LA. Driving from the Bay Area to LA is about a 7 hour drive. About 5 hours into the drive, I heard a pop in the rear. I pulled over, got out my car, and mind you it was pitch black so it made everything more meticulous and difficult. I called my friend and told her I will be late, I got a flat tire. So what ended up happening is, I took the spare tire out of my trunk to replace the popped tire. The difficult part of this whole process was that I didn’t know how to take off the rims and tire off. So instead of trying to figure out how to replace a tire, I slept in my car the whole night, then hitchhiked until I could wave someone down for a ride. My mother told me to never hop into a car with a stranger but this situation was an exception. A middle-aged truck driver approached me and asked me if I was stuck. I said..”Why yes.. I am stuck.. Please help me get to the nearest hint of civilization.” With a rock in hand behind my back, I feel confident this guy won’t try anything funny. 

Overcoming one’s fear is a challenge, but it is also an opportunity for growth. How much you struggle is what builds your person into a stronger character. Inevitably we will all overcome our fears, it is just a matter of how and when. As a business, we also have our own fears, but we are always prepared for whatever happens and if it happens