That's a mantra I've tried to live by for a while now. I mostly like to repeat it to myself when the going gets rough. Well, it's been going rough for the last few weeks.
I did an ultra in Guachochi which is several hours south of Chihuahua Mexico about a month ago. The airline "misplaced" my luggage upon arrival there. I didn't get my clothing and running gear until my return. I was stuck for 4 days with only the clothing I was wearing. I had to borrow clothing not only to wear daily but also for my run. Every single clothing item I ran with was borrowed.
It was a pretty stressful trip and run. Despite this, I kept telling myself "it's ok. it could be worse" because...well...it could.
Upon my arrival at the border, I couldn't find my auto keys. Turns out that I probably left them in Guachochi. The best part was that I don't have a spare set, so I had to have my vehicle towed to a locksmith and wait for them to order the key. Again, self, it could be worse.
But wait...there's more.
I was able to get my vehicle after a few days, almost at the same time I started getting these terrible stomach cramps, and the most outrageous of CODE:REDs ever. Ever. This went on for several days...5 days actually, until I went to the Dr. It turns out I had some sort of stomach bacteria I'd picked up in Guachochi. Apparently, it's not a good idea to drink water from a cascading waterfall. I mean, it was an emergency. They'd run out of water at an aid station and suggested I refill my handheld from the beautiful and clear waterfall. Right.
I was under the weather for about 2 and a 1/2 weeks 'til the antibiotics kicked in. Again, I had to remind myself that it could always be worse. I don't know how much worse it could've gotten because my fatalistic self thought it could be a flesh-eating bacteria that would destroy me from the inside out. It didn't help that I'd read a couple articles about people contracting a flesh-eating bacteria. Curse you, internets!!!
But wait...there's even more.
A couple days ago, I was returning from a friend's bbq when my CRV was sideswiped. The airbag deployed and slapped me in the face. I think I banged my head somewhere along the way too. No, I wasn't drinking. I don't drink, but I don't know about the other driver. The dumbest part of this was that I had just left and wasn't wearing my seatbelt yet. THIS, could have definitely been worse. Way worse.
I'll be without my CRV until it gets repaired, but I have great friends (with cars) and a bike. The best type of friend is a friend who has a car and is off for the summer like me. I'm just sayin'.
On a related note, just because I think you'll find it amusing and difficult to believe that I am not making it up, it was a pretty unique accident. In a nutshell, this beat up car sideswipes me into a stripes parking area where we both end up. I was a bit stunned and some bystander helped me out of my car. I look over and was still able to think "at least they stopped" as I saw the female driver looking at my direction before deciding to drive off. A guy that came over to see if I was ok quickly said "I'm gonna follow her, she's taking off!" I tried to dissuade him from doing so. You never know nowadays, but he took off. About an hour later, as my car is finally about to be towed off, the police officer that had initially made contact with me, returns. He tells me that they had just made contact with the car/individuals that hit me but wants to make sure it was a female driver. I tell him I'm positive, because I saw her. We made eye contact before she drove off. He says he just wants to make sure because a male driver is claiming to be the driver. The most important reason he wants to make sure is because the other person in the car, a female, has an amputated foot.
You cannot make this stuff up.
As I said, it's been an interesting past 4 weeks, but I go back to my mantra: It could always be worse. Hopefully, at this rate, I won't find out how much.
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